


In the Name of Love

by clumsyxhes



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Louis, Beta Zayn, Bottom Harry, Claiming, Fluff, Human Harry, Human Niall, Louis Tomlinson Calls Harry Styles Pet Names, M/M, Mating, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Older Louis, Protective Louis, Scent Marking, Scenting, Top Louis, Werewolves, Younger Harry, bit of an age gap, lots of pet names
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-01-18 02:21:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12378876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clumsyxhes/pseuds/clumsyxhes
Summary: Harry Styles gets dragged into the woods by his best friend, and then they get separated. Harry, terrified and not even wanting to be there in the first place, wanders around, lost.Then he hears a growl.





	1. Chapter 1

The first time Harry sees the wolf, he's just turned nine. Him and his best friend, Niall Horan, had decided to sneak outside when Harry's parents were out, leaving his older sister, Gemma, to watch over the boys one evening after school.Â 

Of course, Gemma didn't pay them any attention, choosing to call her boyfriend.

"Are we really doing this?" Harry asks his friend, glancing nervously towards the outer ring of trees a mere feet away from them. His teeth sink in his bottom lip, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Oh yes, we are!" Niall answers, grinning excitedly. His fingers wrap around Harry's upper arm, urging the boy to walk forward with him. They leave the sanction of Harry's backyard, and Harry lets out a sigh.

The air around them shifts, or at least it does for Harry, and the boy shivers as a big gust of wind rattle through the trees. For the most part, little Harry is alright, he doesn't freak out like he figured he would. Leaves crunch every now and then, a bird chirps occasionally, a squirrel darts up ahead of them. But Harry's fine, he is. Until he turns around to ask the brown haired boy a question, only to find that Niall is nowhere in sight.

"Ni?" Harry calls out nervously, a small tremor heard in his voice. He wringes his hands together in front of his body, his wide green eyes darting all around the area near him. Because he isn't paying attention to where he's going, his feet stumble over a branch on the ground, nearly causing the small boy to fall on his face.

The sound of leaves crunching comes from behind him, but this sounds much larger than a squirrel. It makes Harry freeze in his place, a shiver running down his spine. A low, animalistic growl comes from behind him. Little Hary slowly turns around in his place. A quiet whimper leaves his mouth at the sight of a caramel colored wolf standing about five feet from him.

"There, there, wolfy." Harry speaks quietly, barely a whisper, holding his hands up in front of his little body, his palms facing the animal in an attempt to placate it. He mentally berates himself, for both his bad luck and for thinking that the wolf is going to understand what he's trying to tell it.

Miraculously enough, the wolf's head only tilts to the side instead of teeth lunging for his throat, bright blue (almost unnaturally so) eyes staring up at him. Harry doesn't know what to do, but he knows that if he even attempts to turn his back on this animal it's liable to try and attack him. Or, that it will attack him.

As if reading his mind, the wolf slowly starts to make it's way forward, his eyes intensely fixated on the small boy. Harry shivers, crossing his arms in front of his chest. His green eyes watch the wolf warily, his feet taking an instinctive step back. But that causes the wolf to growl loudly.

Harry freezes again, every muscle in his body going tight and rigid. The wolf keeps trekking forward, right up until his nose is a centimeter from Harry's body. It's then that Harry realizes his whole body is shaking. The wolf's nose presses against Harry's stomach, right above his belly button, and the coolness of it seeps right through Harry's thin sweater.

It startles the small boy, his wide eyes peering down at the large animal. The wolf's nose nudges his skin repeatedly, little huffs of air leaving him every time. Then, to Harry's complete and utter surprise, the wolf drops to its haunches, it's furry head resting on Harry's shoes.

Harry frowns in confusion, his head tilting to the side as he stares down at the large wolf. When the wolf makes no other movements besides closing his eyelids, Harry timidly crouches down, careful not to joust the beast. All it does, is blink up at him. 

"You're kind of cute." Harry compliments after a minute passes, hesitantly holding his hand in the air above the wolf's nose when the beast blinks his eyes open. He doesn't try any attempts to attack so Harry carefully cards his fingers through the fur on the top of his head. The wolf's tongue lolls out of the corner of his mouth, and Harry giggles at the sight. "Definitely cute." He corrects himself. 

"Harry! Where are you?" 

Harry's head jerks up, hearing the Irish lit of his best friend's voice, sounding pretty close by. The wolf stands up instantly, a growl on his tongue as his eyes dart this way and that. He stands protectively in front of Harry. 

Another cute giggle leaves Harry's mouth, standing up beside the wolf, patting it's back. "It's okay, wolfy. It's just my friend." Logically, he knows the animal can't understand him, but with the way it tilts it's head and stares at him, it's hard to remember that fact. "I've gotta go now though, buddy. Gotta get back home. I'll see you soon though maybe?" 

The wolf yips loudly, the perfect height to lick a fat, wet stripe across the boy's cheek, which makes the boy's nose cringe, a hand scrubbing at his cheek. The wolf huffs happily, Harry didn't know they could do that, but then again he's learned a lot about wolves today that he didn't know. 

The wolf stays by Harry's side until Niall is in sight, then darts off with another lick to Harry's cheek. Harry stares after it for a second, until it's out of his view, and then he runs off to catch up with Niall. 

 

 

**What do you guys think? should I continue? :)  
Twitter- larrieluek   
Instagram: toplinson_haz   
Tumblr: larrylashtonmalum **


	2. Chapter 2

Harry sighs, frowning at his reflection in the mirror. His fingers run repeatedly through his hair, trying his best to get some resemblance of a style with his curls, but they refuse to cooperate with him. 

He gives up after a minute, backing away from the mirror. He grabs his backpack on the way out of his room, heading downstairs. His best friend, Niall Horan, is at his kitchen table, his mouth stuffed full of pancake. His mother is at the refrigerator, pouring orange juice in four cups; one for herself, one for Harry, one for Niall, and one for Gemma, Harry's older sister. They both turn to the doorway when they hear Harry enter, his mum giving him a warm smile. "Make yourself a plate, love. You need to be getting to school soon, or else you boys will be late."

"Can't we just skip school today?" Niall asks. Harry spares his friend a glance, seeing his friend's mouth in a perfect pout. Right before he stuffs another forkful of pancake in his mouth. Harry rolls his eyes, grabbing a plate. He plants a kiss to Anne's cheek as he passes by, stealing his glass of juice.

Anne rolls her eyes fondly at Niall's antics, not even bothering to respond to the foolish question. Harry takes a seat in the chair across from Niall, copying his friend's lead and putting a forkful of the pancake in his mouth. He chases it down with a sip of orange juice.

The food is devoured in no time, Niall even going back for a second plate. "Alright, you boys better be heading out now, or you're gonna be late to your first class." Anne reminds them, subtly ushering Niall out of the chair.

"See you later, mum. I love you." Harry bids his mother goodbye, grabbing Niall's arm when a pale hand darts out towards an apple. "You don't even like apples." The curly haired boy sighs, dragging him out of the kitchen.

"But I'm hungry," Niall moans, glancing forlonly back at the kitchen table.

Harry doesn't bother wasting his time by answering, just keeps leading his friend out of the house.

"Can we stop at a bakery on the way to school?"

-

The school day is long for both friends and when the last bell finally rings, they meet up at Harry's locker. "Can I stay the night at your house tonight? My mom's working late and I really don't want to have to listen to my brother call his girlfriend all night."

"I don't care, Ni. You still have clothes over from last time, unless you want to swing by your house and get some other ones." Harry answers, barely managing to dodge a girl chasing another girl through the crowds.

"Nah, I'll make do with those. Can we stop at that bakery again though? I'm craving a donut." Niall asks his friend, puckering his bottom lip out as he lets his gaze fall on the boy.

"Sure, Ni." Harry sighs, way too fondly for his own liking.

-

"C'mon, H. Your mum isn't here right now, and I really want to go back out. We haven't went out in the woods in years." Niall begs his friend, looking between the emerald eyed boy and the woods on the other side of the glass.

"Niall, I don't know." Harry responds, his teeth sinking in his bottom lip. He nervously eyes the treeline, groaning slightly. He knows his friend is going to talk him into it. Really he knows there's no point in even arguing with him, but he's going too. For a moment, anyways.

"H, come on." Niall groans loudly, falling on Harry's bed, the wind leaving his lungs when his stomach collides with the mattress. He props his elbow up on the bed, leaning his chin in the palms of his hands. His blue eyes bore in Harry's, until the green eyed boy finally nods with a sigh escaping his lips. "Let's go. Let me get a sweater on first."

"Hurry up. I'll meet you downstairs."

The blond clambers out of the room, not even bothering to pull the door shut behind him. Harry rolls his eyes, he does that movement a lot being Niall's friend, and walks over to his closet. He pulls out the first sweater he sees, a baby pink one that his mom had made especially for him. It even has his name embroidered on the chest of it. The sweater is slid on after his t-shirt is pulled off, and he pulls at the sleeves until they make sweater paws that he loves so much. Harry bounds down the staircase, finding Niall at the backdoor not-so-patiently waiting for him to finish getting dressed. "Let's go now!" Niall cheers, yanking open the back door. A big gust of wind races through the house as soon as he does.

Harry follows him out into the cold air, shivering when the coolness seeps through his sweater. "Niall, can't we wait for a warmer day?" He asks, pulling his fingers even further back into the sleeves.

"No, I wanna do it today. We won't stay for long though, I promise." Harry's sure he's lying, but he doesn't call him out on it. Niall's always been obsessed with the woods. Specifically the woods behind Harry's house. He follows Niall out to the edge of the forest, stepping through the bushes.

Harry doesn't know why his friend likes the forest so much, but it honestly scares Harry a little bit. It didn't use too, but there's been so many stories of humans getting attacked by wolves here lately, Harry's scared he's going to run into one.

That thought brings Harry's mind back to that wolf he seen when he was a little boy. That wolf was nice. But Harry hasn't seen that wolf since, and any other wolves, he's terrified of.

Rustling sounds behind them. Harry freezes, as does Niall. He feels the blond's hand grip his upper arm, fingers squeezing instinctively. The two boys turn around together, right in time to see a giant wolf walk out from the underbrush. Blue eyes look at Harry first, then land on Niall, a growl slipping out of it's mouth as it's lips curl back.

Niall yelps, scurrying back. His grip, still locked around Harry's arm, pulls the boy back with him, which pulls another snarl from the wolf. But there's something familiar about the owlf, something that doesn't make Harry feel scared. It's something about those eyes...

Harry's mind goes back to when he was a child, that same wolf that he ran into. It takes him another moment to connect that this is the same wolf, just more grown. The same colored fur lines his body, a bit darker in some spots. He's taller too, his eyes almost all the way up to Harry's shoulders. When he's standing. But other than that, it is definitely the same wolf.

The wolf stalks forward two steps, blue eyes locked on Niall. Harry gently shakes Niall's arm off, ignoring the boy's confused noise, and steps forward towards the wolf, his hands held up. The wolf focuses on Harry then, it's posture instantly becoming less menacing. The wolf stops in front of Harry, collapsing down right in front of his feet. A low whine emits from it's throat, and it's then that Harry notices the red matted in his fur.

Harry frowns, crouching down in front of the wolf, his hand tangling in the fur on the top of the wolf's head. "Harry, what the hell is happening?" Niall asks, and Harry's reminded of his friend's presence.

"I've seen this wolf before." Harry tells him, looking up for just a moment to spare a shrug. He looks back at the wolf, chewing on his lip nervously. "He's hurt though. I can't tell how bad. I wonder if he'd follow me back to my house." Harry thinks out loud, eyeing the wound. He can't tell how deep it is, and he'd really like to patch it up before the wolf takes off. But he has nothing with his to patch something. How do you tell a wolf to follow you?

The wolf stands up though, like he undestands what Harry just said. His frame towers above Harry, who's still crouching down, a wet nose nudging Harry's forehead gently until the culy haired boy stands up with a laugh. He waits patiently for Harry to start moving, which he does. Niall follows behind, his hands stuffed in his pockets, his eyes looking off to the side where another wolf sits in the leaves.

"I'll be right back boy, okay?" Harry coos to the wolf when they enter his backyard, holding one finger up to signal for the wolf to wait here, before he takes off into the house. Niall follows him inside, rather than staying outside with the wolf who clearly doesn't care much for him.

"Explain please." He demands, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He leans against the nearest wall, his gaze boring into Harry.

"I'll do it later, I need to patch him up right now."

"Harry."

Harry ignores his friend, crouching down to get everything he needs to patch up the wolf from the cabinet. He turns around, walking around the blond to get back outside.

The whole time Harry cleans and patches up the wound, the wolf just lays there, his tongue lolled out of the side of his mouth. Pants leaves his mouth, his head propped up on his paws. Occasional whines leave his mouth when Harry accidentally presses too hard, but other than that, the wolf makes no move to stop Harry.

Once Harry is done, the wolf stands up, his tongue darting out to lick a fat stripe up his cheek. Harry squeaks out a laugh, cringing as he wipes the slobber off of his skin.

The wolf turns then, and runs off into the trees, pausing once just on the edge to look back at the human boy.

Harry sighs, standing up and dusting off the knees of his jeans. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he sees Niall in the open doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

He opens his mouth to speak, but Niall cuts him off with a shake of his head. "You don't have to explain." The blond boy says simply, turning back into the house.


	3. Chapter 3

"There is a new guy coming to our school today." Niall tells Harry, as the two friends make their way down the sidewalk, headed to their school. Green eyes fall to the sweater that covers the upper half of his body, a pretty lilac color that he doesn't typically wear. He usually sticks to darker colors - black, navy blue, dark red - so that he doesn't draw unnecessary attention to himself.Â 

"And you know this how?" Harry asks, shooting his friend a side-eyed glance. One of his hands reach up, his fingers curling around the strap of his backpack. He pushes it back up from where it's fell down his shoulder and inch or so.

"Because, Harold." Niall purposefully says the name that annoys his friend, hip-checking the curly haired boy. "I know everything." He has a stupid smirk on his face and his eyebrows are waggling ridiculously.

Harry snorts, rolling his eyes skyward. "Whatever, loser." He shoots back sarcastically, pinching Niall's side playfully. They walk up to the double doors of the school about five minutes later, shoving open the door.

The school day goes on like normal. Harry finds out that Niall is right almost as soon as they walk in the doors of the school, but of course he is. Like Harry even doubted him in the first place. The hallway is filled with chatter about the guy, some having already seen him this morning. There's talk about gorgeous cheekbones and fluffy hair, eyes that you could get lost in. Literal walking sex, is one comment he's heard passed around a few times.

Niall and Harry share their first class together and then they part ways, headed to their next classes. Harry doesn't see the guy for his second or third class, doesn't see him at lunch. Niall's already seen him by that time, already talked to him. It's obvious to Harry that his best friend has already developed a crush on him.

Harry walks into his fourth class of the day, English, and takes his normal seat. He lets his eyes fall to the top of his desk, crossing his arms and laying them on it, a sigh slipping out of his lips. Honestly, he's just ready to go home for the weekend.

There's light chatter in the room, but Harry doesn't really pay attention to anything his peers are saying. Amidst all the noise, he hears someone set their stuff down on the floor near him, and he looks up instinctively - as he knows there's not supposed to be anyone sitting near him, that's why he picked this seat - only to see a guy he's never seen before in his life. This must be the new student, he realizes belatedly.

And, the rumors are definitely right. The boy is extremely gorgeous, and he's smiling at Harry, and- oh, is he talking to him? "Sorry, what?" Harry asks quietly, his cheeks flushing bright red when he laughs, though it isn't unkindly.

"I was just introducing myself. Hi, I'm Zayn. The new student. And you are?"

"'m Harry." The curly haired boy introduces himself, taking Zayn's hand when he extends it towards him, shaking it twice.

Zayn starts to sit in the desk next to Harry, before he pauses, turning to Harry. "Does anyone sit here?" When Harry shakes his head, Zayn asks, "Is it cool with you if I sit here? I know how good it is to have a place to yourself in the classroom."

"You can sit there." Harry tells him. A scraping sound fills the room, instantly quieting all of the students. Harry's eyes dart up to the front of the room, seeing the teacher standing up from his chair.

"So, class, get out your books. Today we will be doing..."

Class finishes soon enough and Harry stands up from his chair, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder. Zayn catches up to him right as he steps out of the classroom, and he's surprised when Zayn slows his pace to match Harry's own.

"You wouldn't happen to be headed to art class next, would you?" Zayn smiles sheepishly at the boy, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I'll show you where it's at," Harry says, gesturing for the dark haired boy to follow him. "It's on my way to my next class anyways."

The walk is quiet, considering Harry's to shy to actually attempt any form of a conversation, and Zayn seems to be perfectly content with the silence. Harry comes to a stop outside the door that leads to the classroom, turning to face Zayn. "This is it," He tells him, his fingers gesturing in the general direction of the room.

"Thank you," Zayn tells him, giving Harry a smile. His fingers land on Harry's shoulder, momentarily squeezing his shoulder before he ducks in the classroom.

Harry continues on his way to his next class, and when he enters the classroom, he finds Niall already in his seat right next to the one that is Harry's.

"Hey, mate!" The blond greets excitedly, overly loud and getting a few looks from the surrounding people.

"Hey, Niall." Harry laughs quietly, dropping his bag to the ground. He slides into the seat, turning in it until he's facing Niall. The angle pushes his knees against the wood of the desk, a bit uncomfortably, but nothing Harry can't handle for a bit.

"Have you got to see the new guy yet?" Niall asks, stretching his legs out and kicking his feet up so that they rest on the small basket beneath Harry's desk.

"Zayn? Yeah, I had last period with him."

"He's so hot, isn't he?"

"Sure." Harry agrees, shrugging his shoulders. The curly haired boy can't help his own grin, though, at the sight of his best friend all happy and heart-eyed over the mere mention of Zayn.

"Alright, class, settle down please." Mr. Harris stands up from his chair, walking around to the front of his desk.

"Oh, hey," Niall whispers, after the teacher has done passed out the work and sat back down. Harry peeks up from where he's writing down his answers, raising his eyebrows as he waits for his friend to continue. "I've been meaning to ask you, have you seen that wolf again since last week?"

Harry's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, but he shakes his head. "No, I haven't been out to the woods again. You know I don't like going out there by myself."

"I know, H. But you haven't seen it from out your window or something?"

"No," Harry shakes his head, a curl falling in his eyes. He pushes it back, careful to keep the sharp edge of his pencil pointed away from his face.  

Niall shrugs, then his eyes drop to Harry's paper. He nods towards it. "Can I see that after you're done?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapters a little short, im sorry    
> twitter. clumsyxhes   
> Instagram: toplinson_haz   
> tumblr: larrylashtonmalum 


	4. Chapter 4

The comment Niall made about the wolf stays bouncing around inside of Harry's head all day, making him more and more curious with each passing second. Realistically, he knows there's a chance that the wolf won't ever come back, that it's already left the vicinity of his house, maybe even his town by now, but there's a feeling in the pit of his stomach that tells him he's still around. When the curly haired boy gets home, he props himself by his window sill, turns his tv on, and watches it from an admittedly awkward angle. He keeps an eye out though, searching the forest line periodically for the furry beast, but he sees nothing that night. Â 

Niall calls him on Saturday, inviting the curly haired boy to come over to his house for the day, tells him that Zayn is coming to hang out. Harry raises his eyebrows at that, because _damn that was fast_ , and he asks Niall when they planned all of this. Niall tells him that he got Zayn's number before school ended the previous day. Harry thinks his decision over briefly, and he does end up agreeing to go. Most of their day is spent watching various movies, playing several video games, and eating the pizza that Zayn and Niall ordered before Harry got there. Harry head home just before the sky begins to darken, eats the dinner his mother cooked.

"Hey, mum?" Gemma asks, setting her glass of water back down on the coaster. Anne turns to her daughter, raising her eyebrows in acknowledgement. "Madison's having a small party next Saturday, can I go? Her parents will be there, so they'll make sure things don't get too out of hand." She widens her eyes a fracture, her teeth sinking in the corner of her lip.

Anne thinks it over quickly, shrugging her shoulders after a few seconds pass. "Yeah, sure, honey, I don't see why not. You know the rules, your curfew."

"Thank you," Gemma smiles innocently, fist pumping the air in victory when Anne turns her back for a moment. Harry rolls his eyes, knowing everything his sister just told is a flat out lie, but he doesn't even try to bust her. He stands up from his seat, takes his dishes over to the sink, just setting them in the water that's already there, as it is Gemma's week to clean them. He heads up to his room, shutting the door behind him as he goes.

The boy eyes the window as he passes by it, on his way of getting changed into his pajamas, but the wolf still hasn't made it's presence known. Harry props up in his bed after he changes, watching the TV for a few hours, until his eyes start to get heavy.

On Sunday night, right as he's on the verge of falling asleep, he remembers his goal and squints his eyes open to peek out the window. There's something beneath a bush at the edge of the forest.

Harry kicks off his covers, shivering when the cool air of his bedroom hits his skin. The excitement of seeing the wolf again mixed with the temperature in his room helps to wake him up instantly. He jogs over to his window pane, pressing his face as close to the glass as he can, in an effort to get a closer peek without freezing to death. Even from this distance, he can tell that it's the wolf he's been searching for, trying to spot, and that the wolf's unnaturally bright blue eyes are locked on him. Neither of them move, their eyes focusing on one another.

Harry's too tired to run outside and make contact with the wolf, and he knows that even if he felt like it, it's way too cold to be out there (though the wolf's fur does look warm), so he just gets comfortable in the seat, crossing his arms over his chest. They stay like that until Harry's eyes begin to get heavy, slowly beginning to shut on their own accord.

He doesn't even realize the wrap he put on the wolf is no longer there.

Harry gets woken up less than an hour later, cold and shivering harshly. The temperature in his room has seemed to drop even more and, without a blanket to help keep him hidden and protected, his skin has been open for the air to attack. He pushes himself up from the small seat, but checks out the window before he heads back to his bed. The wolf is still in the same spot as it was before he fell asleep, his body slumped on the ground, his head on his paws. But, he reasons, the wolf has a thick layer of fur lining his body, helping to keep him warm. He doesn't even appear to be shivering.

With that realization in mind, Harry pads his way over his bed and ducks into the warmth of his cover, shivering as his body tries to adjust to the newfound heat. He welcomes it gladly, closing his eyes again as his shivers slowly begin to ebb away.

The next time Harry wakes up, it's to the loud, blaring sound of his alarm clock. He groans, his hand flopping out to smack the off button until the thing actually quits making the noise. He allows himself a few more minutes to try and wake up fully, before he pulls himself out of bed, stretching his arms over his head, arching his back until he hears a crack and his muscles relax. The movement causes his t-shirt to lift up, exposing his belly, and Harry's quick to pull it back down.

Before Harry heads into the bathroom, to start his daily routine of getting ready, he chances a glance out of his window, emerald eyes flitting over to the spot the wolf was in the previous night. It's empty.

Walking out of his house, he sees his friend at the end of his driveway, slumping against his mailbox. "Good morning, H." Niall greets, forcing his head up and attempting a smile. A yawn interrupts him halfway through, he doesn't even bother trying to cover his mouth. Harry frowns at the dark circles under Niall's eyes, but allows him to push off of the mailbox and cuddle into his side, feels Niall lay his head against his shoulder.

"You shouldn't have stayed up so late, Ni." Harry lectures lightly, starting to walk in the direction of the school. Niall forces his feet to keep up with the curly haired boy's pace, but he leans most of his weight on him.

He doesn't bother saying anything in response, just groans loudly. Harry rolls his eyes only a little bit fondly, patting Niall's head twice. The blond doesn't even try to shake him off. Zayn's already at the school when they arrive, his eyes light up when the two walk up to him. The fact that he's waiting outside for them surprises Harry a little bit, though it doesn't appear to surprise his blond friend. "Hey, guys," He greets, a warm smile on his face. His hands are stuffed in his leather jacket, an attempt to keep them warm. His back is resting against the door of a fancy red car that Harry isn't even going to pretend to know the name of. One of his ankles is crossed over the other.

Niall pushes off of Harry to shift and lean his weight against Zayn instead, a happy sigh leaving his mouth. Harry raises his eyebrows at that, at that and the almost too fond look in Zayn's gaze, which is firmly locked on the Irish boy clinging to him, but he tries to shrug it off as Zayn finally realizes that he's still there.

Harry doesn't question any of it, doesn't feel like trying to work his brain so hard this early in the morning, so he just returns the smile and heads past the hugging pair, eager to get out of the wind.

"Oh, hey, H!" Niall shouts, standing up fully to follow after the boy. His fingers wrap loosely around Zayn's wrist, pulling him behind him, as they all head into the school.

"Yes?" Harry asks, one of his eyebrows raising. He slows his pace considerably, to try and let them catch up, but he doesn't come to a complete stop.

"Next movie night we're planning on having at Zayn's house, don't know what day we're gonna do it on yet. But, you're gonna come, right?" Niall asks.

Harry shrugs his shoulders, jostling his bag in the process. He fixes it quickly, though he doesn't know why he bothers when he comes to a stop in front of his locker. He opens it up, tossing his backpack in the metal cage. "Yeah, sounds fun. Just tell me when you figure out when you wanna do it."

"When do you wanna do it?" Niall asks, twisting around so he's facing Zayn. He leans back against the locker that's right next to Harry's, crossing his arms over his chest as he waits for an answer.

"Honestly, any day is fine with me." Zayn shrugs. He steps up so that he's next to Niall against the locker, propping one of his arms on his shoulder. "But I need to let my roommate know a little bit in advance."

"Roommate?" Harry asks curiously, leaning back a little so he can see Zayn's face around his locker door. He accidentally cuts Niall off, the blond's mouth open to answer. He gives him an apologetic look, but Niall shakes it off, grinning.

"Yeah," Zayn nods his head, not looking bothered at all by the question. "He's one of my best friends, ever since I was young. We've been living together for a while." Harry waits a beat for him to explain further, maybe more about where his parents are, but the boy offers no more.

"Oh," Harry says simply, about a hundred questions on the tip of his tongue, but he bites them back, not wanting to badger or annoy Zayn with them.

"When would you rather do it, H?" Niall cuts in then, asking, getting them all back to the original topic. "Because I'm game for whenever."

"Maybe day after tomorrow?" Harry answers, shrugging unsurely. "Or tomorrow? I don't care." Harry shrugs again, grabbing another book and pushing his locker closed as he waits for the other two's input.

"I'm game for tomorrow," Zayn answers, looking down at Niall, who nods his head eagerly in agreement. "We can make some hot chocolate or something too, or go out and get something."

"That sounds like fun. I can bake us some cookies or brownies this evening. Niall like the brownies better, which would you rather?"

"Brownies are good. My friend's gonna hang out with us some too, when he gets off of work, if that's okay with you two?" Zayn looks between the best friends, letting his arm drop off of Niall's shoulder, stuffing his hands back in his pockets.

's fine with me," Niall agrees, stepping away from the locker. Both of them look over at Harry.

"Fine with me too, would he rather brownies or cookies?" As soon as the question leaves his mouth, his eyes lift up instinctively at the sound of the bell ringing loudly across the campus.

"Brownies." Zayn answers, chuckling. "Alright, so I'll go stock up on popcorn after school. You can bring a movie if there's a specific one you want to watch, but we have a lot." The three of them start making their way through the swarm of people, raising his voice as necessary to be heard over the noise of everyone else.

"Alright." Harry nods.

 

 

**Twitter: clumsyxhes  
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	5. Chapter 5

"Can I have one?" Niall asks eagerly, looking up from the freshly baked brownies to his best friend, his blue eyes wide in an effort to look irresistibly cute. The delicious scent of the chocolate goods fill the warm kitchen, making Niall lick his lips in anticipation.

Harry rolls his emerald eyes skyward, slapping away Niall's hand when he gets impatient and tries reaching for a brownie anyways. "No, Niall, they're supposed to be for tomorrow." Harry reminds him, sighing quietly. Niall groans loudly while Harry begins to carefully place each one in a bowl, one that he had bought just for his brownies, setting the lid on top of it and pushing the little locks into place. "Don't touch them," Harry warns, wiggling his finger at his friend as his eyes narrow into slits. Niall mock salutes him once, turning on his heel to leave the kitchen, heading for the stairs.

Harry lets out a quiet laugh, shaking his head at his friend's antics as he finishes up what he's doing. Once all of the brownies are in the bowl, he puts them in a spot he knows Niall won't search. Then he turns and follows them up the stairs. He finds Niall already stretched on his bed, his arms crossed beneath his head as his blue eyes stare up at the ceiling. He doesn't even seem to register that Harry walked in.

So Harry clears his throat loudly, his lips twitching up into a half-smirk as Niall jumps, his head jerking over to where he's standing. He rolls his eyes when he sees that it's just Harry. Harry heads over to join him on his bed, taking a step out of his way to grab their backpacks. Niall groans at the sight of them, displeasure visibly written all over his face. "Are you really going to make me do homework right now?" He asks.

"I am," Harry answers simply, tossing Niall's over to him. It lands right in front of him on the bed. Niall pushes himself into a sitting position with a loud sigh, his hand grabbing the backpack and plopping it down on his crossed legs. They get out their history books, along with their assignments, and get to work.

That's what they're doing when Gemma yells through his bedroom door, "Harry, I need your help!" an hour later. The door is shoved open before Harry gets a chance to answer, causing the curly haired boy to let out a loud groan, glaring at his sister for forgetting to knock. Again. "Oh, shit, sorry." She says when she sees the look on his face, but she doesn't look that apologetic.

"What do you need my help with?" Harry sighs, rolling his eyes as he pushes himself up so that he's sitting on his knees. Beside his thigh, Niall lets his pencil drop flat on his paper, propping his chin on his arms as he watches the interaction between the siblings.

"Finding an outfit for the party on Saturday," Gemma pouts, looking distraught, as she crosses her arms over her chest. She leans her weight against the doorframe, propping the toe of her left boot on the floor.

"It's Monday," Niall butts into the conversation, raising his eyebrows, his face contorting with disbelief. Harry waves his hand in his friend's direction, showing that he wholeheartedly agrees.

"Exactly!" Gemma exclaims. "I have less than a week to pick a cute outfit out, and this guy that I really like is going to be there, so I have to look amazing." She rambles, her hands flying about in the air with every word that leaves her mouth. As she gets further in her statement, she seems to get in more and more of a panic.

"So you need me to help you pick an outfit out? Why me?" Harry asks curiously, his eyebrows scrunching together in the middle of his forehead.

"And why not me? My style is fucking great," Niall tells her, his lips forming a bit of a pout. He looks majorly offended, Harry notes, offering Niall a pat on the shoulder.

"You have really good style, H." Gemma answers, completely ignoring the blond altogether. "So will you go shopping with me tomorrow?"

"I can't tomorrow," Harry answers, shrugging his shoulders. He twists his lips to the side, halfheartedly sympathetic. "Niall and I are going over to our friend's house for a movie night thing after school."

Gemma raises her eyebrows at that, letting out a loud snort. "You two losers have another friend? Yeah, okay." Protests leave their mouths, but Gemma actively ignores both of them. "The day after then?"

Harry agrees after a minute, though he and Niall are still pouting over the insult. Gemma smiles widely, clapping her hands together once. She doesn't even bother to say thank you as she turns and walks away, leaving the door wide open in her wake. Harry groans, his eyes locked on the wall visible on the other side of the hallway.

-

Niall ends up crashing over at Harry's house, not that he even bothers to ask if he can, and when morning comes, Harry has to deal with listening to him gripe about the alarm clock. Then he has to deal with him hogging the bathroom. And then, when Harry finally gets a chance to take a quick shower before they head out, he barges in on him three times. This is why he's not allowed to stay over on a school night, Harry remembers. Or ever.

When they get to school, Zayn's waiting for them again, much like yesterday. All three of them head inside, easy conversation flowing between them. The day drags on.

At lunch, they grab their food and take it to a bench outside. Harry gets chilly, so Zayn offers him his jacket. He forgets to give it back before they head to class again. When the final bells rings for the day, dismissing everyone, the three of them meet up at Zayn's car. "Niall ate the brownies," Harry says apologetically, tugging the empty container out of his bag and holding it up for proof.

"It's okay," Zayn responds, letting out a chuckle, shaking his head. Niall grins proudly, patting his belly once. Then he exclaims loudly, "Who's ready to go?"

Harry and Zayn share an amused glance, one that Niall doesn't see because he's already heading to the passenger seat. Zayn's hand reaches out to grab the key, twisting it to the side, starting the engine.

The drive to Zayn and his friend's house - Harry should probably already have asked his name, he wonders briefly if Niall has - house is comfortable, the music from the radio and a story about something that happened in English told by Niall fills the silence.

Zayn parks in the driveway of a fairly nice house, instead of the garage that's just off to the right. For quick access when they go out for more snacks later, he tells Niall when he's asked about it. Niall and Harry follow him up to the front door, waiting patiently as he digs out his keys. "Okay, who wants to go with me to pick out some movies and who wants to head into the kitchen to get some popcorn ready?" Zayn asks, pushing open the front door and pulling his key out of the lock.

"I should probably handle the popcorn," Harry answers, cutting Niall off before he gets the chance to say anything, causing him to pout in defeat. "If we want some popcorn to have to eat during the movie, that is."

"That's smart." Zayn agrees, patting Niall's shoulder before he can protest or pout further, and proceeds to point Harry in the right direction to get to the kitchen. Harry nods his head in acknowledgement, following the pathway that he was told, finding the kitchen easy enough.

But upon breaching the entrance, Harry freezes. A man stands by the fridge, a glass of water pressed to his lips. Sparse hair lines his jaw, messy hair sprawls across his forehead, piercing eyes blink over to Harry, and Harry's momentarily dazed by him. The man sputters around the edge of the glass, the noise pulling Harry out of his stupor, and he hurries to pull it away as a trail of water runs down his chin. He removes one of his hands from the glass to reach up and wipe it away as Harry hurries to explain, his hands held up to show his lack of harm. "Sorry, um, Zayn told me to make some popcorn. For the movie night. He's getting the movies. Hi, uh, I'm Harry."

The man keeps staring instead of answering, his eyes locked in a sort of a daze, making Harry fidget nervously, unsure of what else to do or say. Finally the man snaps out of it, shaking his head. "Sorry, sorry, hi. I'm Louis. Zayn's roommate."

His voice is light and airy, raspy. Higher pitched than Harry was expecting it to be from the sight of him, he really likes it. He nods his head to show he heard him, but he's unsure of what else to say, unsure of whether or not to rummage the cabinets right in front of him. So, he stands there, allowing Louis' eyes to roam all over him quite obviously. They scan up and down his body once, twice, before they stop on his jacket. Louis' mouth presses together in a hard line, before he shakes his head, blinking, stepping to the side and gesturing for Harry to step by. He takes another swig from his drink, before he sets it on the countertop behind him.

Harry's eyes flicker to the set of cabinets on the other end of the kitchen. He heads over to them, hoping that's where the popcorn is kept. "Top cabinet," The raspy voice instructs, sounding like it's right behind him. "All the way to the left."

A shiver runs down Harry's spine, not one of the bad sense, and he reaches out for the cabinet he was told. The bags of popcorn are right on top, almost out of his reach. His fingers graze the bag, getting just enough leverage to pull one free. He turns around, only to find that Louis is in the same spot as he was. But Harry hesitates, eyeing the microwave for a beat, before he starts to walk over to it. Louis' nearly blocking it.

Putting the bag in the microwave and setting the correct time, his arm nearly brushing against Louis'. Not that Louis seems to mind.

The time passes by slowly, until the microwave beeps. Harry carefully pulls the bag out, and turns to find a bowl, but Louis is already standing there with two. "We should probably make two bags, for everyone." He says, his bright eyes locked on Harry as he tears open the top of the bag and tilts it over until the kernels start falling into one of the bowls. It makes Harry the slightest bit self conscious.

"Probably a good idea, what with Niall and all." Harry agrees quietly. He throws the empty bag in the trash can that's nearby, going back over to the cabinet that has the popcorn. Another bag is grabbed, put in the microwave. Louis sets the full bowl on the table behind him, holding the empty one with both hands.

"So, I see you two have met already." Zayn speaks up. Harry and Louis turn away from where they're looking, Harry at the bag inside the lit-up screen of the microwave and Louis' eyes locked firmly on Harry. They see Zayn and Niall standing at the doorway, a few movies in Zayn's hands. "Niall, this is Louis. Louis, this is Niall."

"Nice to meet ya," Niall greets, nodding his head. His eyes zero in on the popcorn behind Louis, his tongue darting out to trace his bottom lip. Harry wags his finger at him, narrowing his eyes. "Down boy," He teases, just as the microwave beeps.

Louis snickers, holding the bowl as Harry empties the other bag in it. He doesn't see it, when Zayn's eyes zoom in on them, confusion swirling inside of him. Harry's eyes dart up as the last few pieces of popcorn fall into the bowl, sucking in a quiet breath as he gets stuck in Louis' gaze. The clearing of a throat drags them out of their staring contest, followed by, "I thought you were gonna be at work still." Zayn calls out.

"Got off early," Louis shrugs, his attention going right back to Harry, who's swaying back on his heels. "You guys got the movies?"

"Yeah," Zayn answers, holding up the movies in his hands. He steps back, waiting for the other three to follow. Niall stays right by his side, leaving Harry and Louis in the back. Harry sits on the smaller couch, while Zayn busies himself with putting the first movie in the DVD player. Louis takes a seat right beside him, offering the curly haired boy a smile when he looks over. Louis holds one bowl of popcorn in his lap, the other he extends towards Niall, who takes it eagerly.

"So we picked out the first two Pitch Perfect movies," Niall starts, shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth as Zayn cuts in with a quiet, "You picked them out."

"Yeah," Niall swallows the food in his mouth, which Harry is thankful for. "Well, you're the one who had both of them in his room." He grins when Zayn huffs. "Along with Annabelle," He finishes quickly, as Zayn shuts the living room light off, the sunlight still streaming in through the windows so it doesn't get very dark. He claims the spot next to Niall on the larger couch as soon as he can.

Harry sighs, because of course his friend would pick out a scary movie. But regardless he leans back, letting his back sink into the soft cushion of the couch. His eyes fall to his arms as the movie loads the main screen, and it's then that he sees the material covering his arms, the same leather that belongs to Zayn. He grips the edge of the sleeve, tugging down until his arm is free. Once the jacket is completely off of his body, he lets it drape over the arm of the couch. Louis' body loosens.

The movie begins, and Louis' hand digs into the bowl to get a bit of popcorn. Harry crosses his arms over his chest, crossing his ankles over the other. It takes Harry about half of the movie, and Louis' incessant shoving of the bowl in his arms to get him to start eating popcorn. The movie ends and the second movie is put in. They don't watch the third movie, Niall and Harry both deciding it's time for them to head back home, as it is a school night.

"We didn't get any snacks," Niall's bottom lip juts out, as he looks up at the raven haired boy. Zayn throws his arm around his shoulder, pulling him into his side.

"I'll get you an ice cream cone tomorrow," He promises, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. Harry's eyebrows raise at that.

Louis steps in front of him, blocking his view of the couple. His hands are stuffed in the pockets of his black skinny jeans, a lopsided smile on his face. "It was nice to meet you, love." He says, the smile stretching as Harry's cheeks flush with color.

"I'll be back in a bit, Lou." Zayn pats the man on the shoulder as he walks by, and Louis nods his head.

They step out the front door, into the warm air of the night. As Harry slides in the backseat, his eyes dart back over to the house. Louis' in the doorway still, his shoulder resting against the side of the frame. "You can just drop us off at Harry's house," Niall informs the boy behind the wheel, buckling his seatbelt.

Harry barely holds back his groan.

Niall is the one that tells Zayn the directions to go, while Harry sits quietly in the back of the car. His backpack is still by his feet.

Zayn gets out at Harry's house, just to walk the boys to the front door. He stands there until they both step through the threshold, and when Harry turns around to shut the door, he sees Zayn's face turned towards the back of the house, realization on his face. Confusion makes his eyebrows scrunch together, but he blocks it from his mind for the moment. "Bye, Zayn. The movie night was fun." Harry calls out, and Niall echoes the statement.

Zayn grins at both of them, nodding his head. "It was. I'm sure Louis had fun too. We should do it again soon. I'll see you two tomorrow." He backs away as he says the last sentence, throwing a wave over his shoulder as he climbs back in his car.

Niall falls asleep almost as soon as his head hits the pillow, but it takes a little longer than that. His eyes gaze out the window as sleep slowly starts to take over his body. Just before his eyes shut, he sees the wolf 

 


	6. Chapter 6

"H, please." Niall lets out a loud whine, letting his head thump back against the hard metal boxes, narrowly missing contact with a lock. "It'll be so much fun, I promise." He begs, his eyes widening adorably. His bottom lip puckers out the tiniest bit, adding to the effect.

"Then you go, Niall. Have fun by yourself, or with Zayn, or whoever else you talk into going with you." Harry answers, sighing through clenched teeth as he pulls his last needed book from his own locker, before he pushes it shut with a small clang ringing in the air around them.

"But, I want all three of us to go to it, Hazza Bear. It won't be any fun without my best friend there with me." Niall groans, widening his blue eyes even more, trying his best to force Harry into making eye contact with him, knowing he'll give in the very second he does. He always does. Niall even throws on the cute nickname he came up with when they were five for added cuteness.

"No," Harry snaps, quickly growing irritated with answering the same question over and over again. He loves his best friend, he really really does, but this is about the twentieth time he's been asked this. In the past ten minutes that they've been at school.

"But,-" Niall tries to say, only to get cut off by Zayn walking up beside the two boys. A warm grin is on the boy's face, but it slowly fades as he takes in the sight of the two, sees the expressions on their faces, feels the tension in the air. "What's going on?" He asks curiously, shoving his hands in his front pockets. Harry grumbles under his breath as Niall rushes to explain, his hands flying about in the air as he does.

"There's a party this Saturday, right? And really want us all to go to it, because it will be so much fun, but Harry won't agree to go to it with us." The Irish lad complains to him, his head tilting back and exposing the length of his throat as he groans loudly, drawing the attention of some nearby peers. Zayn simply raises one perfect eyebrow in amusement, not even bothering to comment on the fact that Niall hasn't even bothered asking him if he wants to go. He doesn't appear mad or annoyed, either. Pure fond, all over his face.

He turns to Harry, leaning his shoulder coolly against the nearest locker, coincidentally the one right beside Niall. "I mean, it might be fun, Haz." Zayn admits, shrugging his shoulders, the leather making a scratching sound against the metal. Then a lopsided grin pulls up on his face, his head tilting to the side a bit as dark eyes narrow a fraction, studying the curly haired boy's reaction as he says his next words. "And I'm pretty sure Louis is free this weekend and would want to go. So I could ask him to join us if you lads don't mind? Could be something like a double date, of sorts."

Harry freezes, opening and closing his mouth a few times, unsure of how to respond, as he feels his cheeks heat up. He groans quietly, his green eyes flickering to the tile floor beneath his feet. He doesn't miss the confused glance that Niall throws at Zayn, before his blue eyes land on Harry and widen at the sight of his flushed cheeks. "You should definitely invite him, I think. H, what do you think?"

Harry forces his green eyes up, seeing the smirk that's twisted on Niall's lips. "Definitely. I mean, um, yeah, sure. If you guys want to invite him." Harry stutters out his answer finally, cringing as his attempt for nonchalance fails miserably.

Niall grins wickedly, throwing his arm over Harry's shoulder as he steps away from the locker. "What did you think of him though? He's hot, right? He seemed to quite like you too, actually." Niall tells him, before he looks over to Zayn for his opinion, Louis being his friend and all, his words would mean more to Harry.

"He's definitely already into you, H, that's for you." Zayn agrees, a lopsided grin on his face as his dark eyes twinkle, staring at the blushing boy in front of him.

The bell rings loudly then, sparing the boy from any more embarrassing comments for now. But he knows Niall and Zayn aren't just going to let this go, knows they're gonna ask him more invading questions later. This idea if only proven further when Harry bustles off to his next class, Niall's cackling laughter echoing behind him.

And he's right. For the most part anyway. All day, every single chance Niall gets he sneaks in all kinds of questions about Louis, crude comments about other aspects of Louis.

Zayn, bless his heart, is more discreet with his questions, less pushy, and he only asks a few, trying to get a feel of what Harry thought of the older man. Every single time his name is mentioned, Harry's cheeks burn crimson. He didn't think he was being that obvious about his attraction the previous night. He hopes Louis didn't realize it as well, how embarrassed would that be?

Gemma pulls up into the parking lot as Zayn, Niall, and Harry step out of the school.

"So, lads, you two want to come hang out at my house again this afternoon?" Zayn asks, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket to block the skin from the chilly wind. He turns a teasing grin to the curly haired boy, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Louis will be there," He teases, nudging his elbow in Harry's side.

The change in topics doesn't change the pink tint that comes on Harry's cheeks at the mention of that name. "I would, but I promised I'd help my sister go shopping for an outfit for the party. Guess I'd better get an outfit of me own while I'm at it," He narrows pretty green eyes in a halfhearted glare at both of the boys beside him.

"I'll come hang out, Zee. I already have an outfit for the party. Not that I'll be wearing much of anything soon into it." Niall grins playfully, biting his lip as he glances at the dark haired boy from beneath his lashes. From his place, Harry even hears the hitch in Zayn's breath, causing the curly haired boy o simultaneously blush and groan. Zayn has the audacity to glance at Harry and blush fiercely, smiling contently to himself as he throws an arm around Niall's shoulder.

"Okay!" Harry says loudly, to get off that topic as quick as he can, clapping his hands together in front of his chest. "There's my sister now. Bye, mates."

He ignores Niall's snickers that follow that statement, not really sure why he's making that noise but not really caring much at this moment to find out, and heads to his sister's car. Admittedly he's a little bit disappointed when he sees Niall and Zayn getting in Zayn's car through the windshield, knows they're off to see Louis, the gorgeous man from yesterday. But he has no reason to feel that way, Harry tells himself, frowning as he wonders why he's feeling like this. He just met the man yesterday! He sighs under his breath, his sister pulling out of the parking lot, and gazes out his window.

"Hey, H." Gemma greets, reaching out to turn the radio down a smidge.

"Hey, Gems." Harry returns the greeting, pulling his gaze off the tree line just long enough to flash his sister a smile. "How was your day?"

"Long," Gemma groans dramatically, lifting one of her hands off of the wheel to run through her hair, pushing stands out of her eyes. "I've been so ready to go to the mall all day."

"That makes one of us, then." Harry snorts quietly, leaning his cheek against the palm of his hand. He doesn't get an answer, because Gemma starts squealing and eagerly turning the radio up as one of her favorite songs as she claims, Slow Hands, fills the car. The beat is catchy, Harry has to admit, as he finds himself bobbing his head along to the beat.

Gemma parks the car in the closet parking spot to the front doors as she can find, before pulling the key out of the ignition and pushing open her door. Harry follows her lead, clutching his jacket closer to his chest as a strong gust of wind his them, the car partially blocking Harry from some of it.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Gemma shouts grabbing Harry's arm when he's in distance of her and yanking him to the doors.

-

It is, in fact, not that much fun, Harry deduces ten minutes into the shopping trip. Every, single, thing that Gemma tries on 'isn't good enough, Harry, come on!'

He's about to pull his curls out.

Finally she finds a dress that she likes, a ridiculously short black dress with sleeves made of lace. Harry sighs happily, thinking they're about to head home, when she announces she needs shoes to go with the dress. Harry groans loudly, sullenly allowing her to tug him over to the nearest shoe department. She comes out of that store with a pair of dark red pumps.

"Now home?" Harry asks hopefully, throwing his hands up in a cheer when she nods her head yes.

He eats dinner with his family, ignores Niall's text that says 'lou asked for ya mate !' and locks himself in his room as the sun starts to set. It's completely dark when he sees, out of the corner of his eye, a silhouette of a big wolf stepping out of the trees. Harry climbs off his bed and heads over to his window, leaning his elbows on the windowsill and resting his chin on them. The wolf jerks his head a few times, his mouth parting with silent yips, his paws digging in the dirt as he scuffles his feet. It takes Harry a second to realize what the wolf is wanting him to do.

With a sigh he puts on the nearest pair of shoes, tugging a jacket as he heads to his door. He hears no movement anywhere in the house, so he creeps out of his room and down the stairs, out of the back door without making much noise.

The wolf barks happily when Harry appears in his view, rushing up to meet him halfway across the yard. He jumps up, placing his front paws against Harry's chest, making the boy stumble back a few steps. "Hey, boy." Harry chuckles, reaching his hand out to scratch his dull nails against the spot right behind the wolf's ear. The wolf's nose nudges against Harry's exposed wrist once, twice, before his teeth bite down gently on Harry's hoodie, yanking it forward until the curly haired boy gets the hint and sits down on the ground. The cold seeps through his clothes, but he ignores it as the wolf circles him. After the wolf's satisfied, he plops down beside Harry, letting his head fall in Harry's lap. He nudges his large head against Harry's limp hand until Harry chuckles and starts scratching behind his ear again.

"You're really sweet." Harry comments, smiling, after a few minutes of the wolf scenting his clothes and letting the boy pet him. The wolf lifts his head, yipping, as his eyes gaze up at Harry. Harry gasps quietly when he sees the wolf's eyes up close, the brilliant blue reminding him of something. It's on the tip of his tongue, but he just can't think of what is it. Or who. The wolf pulls him out of his thoughts by pawing his chest, applying pressure until Harry falls over backwards, letting out a quiet grunt when his back hits the ground.

The wolf follows him, nosing against the skin of his throat. The cool touch shocks Harry, but what makes him freeze, his whole body going tense, is the realization that all the wolf has to do it bite down and he wouldn't even be able to stop it comes to mind. Hot, wet breath circles his neck, making Harry's skin feel sticky, but he pays no mind to it. A tongue darts out, kitten licking the skin at first. When Harry doesn't react or try to stop him, the wolf trails a long, wet line up the side of Harry's throat. The wolf whines after a minute, backing away from Harry. Harry watches curious as the wolf circles his body, before he settles against Harry's side, halfway on top of the boy. His muzzle falls on Harry's clavicle, his tail thrown  across Harry's ankles. His body covers Harry's smaller frame easily, though the wolf keeps his weight from crushing the boy.

It's then that Harry realizes the shivers racking his body. Warmth radiates from the large animal, onto Harry's skin, and the boy lets out a relaxed sigh as his body temperature raises to the normal degree. He doesn't even realize it when his eyes begin to get heavy, but then a cold snout is pressing into his chest, the warmth on his body suddenly gone and his body exposed to the cold air again. It startles Harry's eyes open, and he comes face to face with the wolf. He has to blink several times to remember where he's at. On shaky legs, he stands up, running his fingers through his hair as he bends his back until it cracks, his muscles relaxing.

The wolf bends his head down, pressing his nose into Harry's thigh and pushing him towards the house. Harry stumbles at first, not expecting the motion, but he allows the wolf to push him up to his back door. He pets the animal's head once, before he pulls open the door. Warmth hits him instantly, and he steps inside. Green eyes watch the wolf as the boy backs up towards the stairs. The wolf stays there, tongue falling out the side of it's mouth, until Harry's too far up the stairs to see each other. By the time Harry's back under the covers, the wolf is gone from his backyard.

As he shuts his pretty green eyes, attempting to fall back asleep, one thought keeps him awake, nagging at him.

_Why do those eyes look familiar to him?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unedited, so I'm sorry for any mistakes. Also, thank all of you for reading and leaving kudos and comments, I love hearing what you think <3 
> 
> twitter; clumsyxhes   
> Instagram; Toplinson_haz   
> tumblr; larrylashtonmalum


	7. Chapter 7

Harry yawns as his eyes blink open, his lips stretching wide as he does, his back arching off of the bed as he stretches his limbs out. His muscles crack and pop, before the tension fades away. He sits up, tossing his legs over the side of his bed, lazily scratching his nails against the skin of his lower belly as he pads across the floor to his closet. The temperature in his bedroom is much warmer now than it was just hours ago, so Harry yanks his long sleeve shirt over his head as he goes.

A warm shower is just the thing he needs to wake himself up, and the emerald eyed boy spends plenty of time thoroughly washing his body and his hair just because he has the time to do so this morning. As he steps out, his hand reaches out to grab a towel to dry off the water clinging to his skin.

He struggles with putting on his skinny jeans, then tugs a simple white t-shirt over his head. He runs his fingers through his damp hair as he heads back to his closet, pulling on a pair of light blue socks with pandas decorated on them, followed by his white converse, before he heads back to the bathroom to brush his teeth in the sink.

Soon he's ready to head out, stepping out of his house, turning around to lock the door behind him; his backpack, slung over his shoulders, swings with his moves. Niall isn't at the end of his driveway, near his mailbox where he always is (if not in his kitchen, that is) Harry notes, a frown appearing on his face as he tries to figure out where his friend might be. He brings his phone out of his pocket, raising it up and squinting his eyes as he types out a quick message, asking his friend where he is. Three dots appear beneath the text after a few seconds, before another message appears. Harry struggles a bit to read it under the glare of the sun, harsh and beaming as it is this morning, but after a second he can make out that it says 'stayed _over at Z's last night mate ! our alarm didn't go off this morning and none of us woke up so we're running really late . head on to school without me , meet you there !_ '

Harry sighs, sliding his phone back into his pocket and preparing himself for the walk to school in complete silence, dragging his feet as he starts to head in that direction. He doesn't walk by himself much, only on rare occasions that Niall gets sick and then he usually has more of a warning before he has to, but he always hates it. The quiet contrast is staggering, the boy so used to having Niall with him. By the time the first period bell rings, Niall nor Zayn have made it to school or sent him another message, explaining anything or saying where they are, so Harry trudges to his first period class without them, his head lowered, his eyebrows furrowed.

By lunch time, there's still no sight of them. Harry makes his way to their usual lunch table, sighing to himself as he goes. He plops down in his seat, his fingers instantly reaching to dig his phone out of his pocket. He goes to his previous messages with Niall, typing out a new one; _you could have told me you guys were just gonna ditch today, you know._

_I'm so sorry H . We just decided to skip last minute_

Harry lets out another quiet sigh, the sound only just above audible, his fingers hovering over the letters, debating on what to send back. After a minute, he just locks his phone again, setting it on the table next to his discarded food. He lets his gaze drift down to the table, seeing the blades of grass between the little holes in the fence-like table-top. His phone buzzes again and he drags his eyes over to it so that he can read the screen.

_Harry, mate, I'm sorry . I know it's pretty late already , but if you want I can get dressed and make Zayn drive me to school ?_

_Don't worry about it_ , Harry texts back, sighing quietly to himself, feeling guilt twist his stomach at the thought of ruining his best friend's free day. _I'm alright, honest. Was just worried about you guys when you didn't show up._

_Are you sure ?_

_Yeah_

The bell rings loudly across the campus minutes later, letting everyone know to go to their next class, right as Harry's phone buzzes in his pocket, but he doesn't have the time to fish it out and read the message that lies on the screen. As he scrambles up with his things clutched to his chest, heading to the packed hallways, he turns a corner and collides right into a hard chest, the jostle causing the books in his arms to scatter all over the floor. "I'm so sorry!" Harry squeaks, dropping to his knees without looking at whoever he ran into, his hands reaching out to grab all of his books.

A hand reaches out, picking up a few of the books, and Harry peeks up then, his eyes drifting up the plaid covered skin until they land on the boy's face, a muscled boy with short hair and warm brown eyes that are flickering around the floor as he moves around, gathering.

"It's okay, mate, no worries." The boy responds, holding the books out for Harry to take when both of them stand back on their feet. "I'm Liam," He introduces himself without missing a beat, a warm smile pulling across his face as he holds his hand out for Harry to shake, before he thinks better of it, reaching back to scratch the back of his neck as his face morphs into something more sheepish, letting out an awkward chuckle.

"I'm Harry." The curly haired boy introduces himself, grinning wide enough that his dimples make their selves known. The grin fades away after a minute, his eyebrows knitting together in the middle of his forehead. "I don't remember seeing you around here before. Are you a new student?"

"That obvious, huh?" Liam jokes, letting out a short laugh. "Yep, first day was today."

"Ahh, that's cool." Harry says, nods his head. He shifts the book weight in his arms, so that he has a better grip on everything. "How has it been?" He asks after another beat passes, rocking back on his heels. "Not too terrible, I hope?"

"Not at all, actually. It's been fairly decent. And everything's really easy to find at this school, which is great." Liam responds, grinning excitedly, so wide his eyes nearly disappear, his head bobbling as he enthusiastically nods.

"That's good." Harry tells him sincerely, flashing his dimples again, pulling his books tighter to his chest. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Liam, but we'd better head on to class before we're late. You know where your next one is, right?"

Liam nods his head, agreeing and giving an affirmative answer. They part ways with another smile, passing each other by to get to their correct class. The rest of the day passes by slowly, until Harry's walking out of the school at the end of the day, his eyes locked on the cement beneath his converse.

"Harry!"

The emerald eyed boy jumps a fraction, confusion swirling his brain as he turns his head quickly at the sound of his name, frowning in confusion when he spots Niall pushing off of a car. Green eyes drift behind Niall as Niall runs towards him, finding Zayn standing a few paces back. His breath catches in his throat when he spots Louis right next to him, the man's arms crossed over his chest as he leans back against the black Range Rover. He's wearing a pair of black skinny jeans, an equally dark black t-shirt covering his upper half. His hair is messy, purposefully so, in a way that just makes Harry want to run his fingers through it. "What are you guys doing here?" Harry asks when he reaches his friend, dragging his eyes away from Louis, who seems to have no desire to break the eye contact himself.

"Came to pick you up, like I told you I was going too." Niall tells him throwing his arms around Harry as soon as the boy is in arms reach, the unexpected movement causing Harry to stumble back a few steps in surprise. "Didn't you get my message?"

"I could have just walked home, Ni. Nothing different from what we do every other day." Harry tells his friend quietly, though his gratefulness is heard clear in his voice. He feels bad though, about the fact that not only Niall went through all the trouble of coming here just to pick him up, but Zayn and Louis did too. He's unable to help it, though, when his eyes flicker behind his friend again, to Louis. The man's gaze hasn't left him, steady and unwavering. Harry subconsciously runs his hand through his hair, trying unsuccessfully to tame his curls, his other hand reaching to smooth out his shirt; he wishes momentarily that he would have worn something cuter this morning.

"Yeah, but it's always been us together. I didn't want you to walk by yourself. Especially after you've already spent today by yourself with no warning at all. Again, I'm really sorry about that, H." Niall admits, pulling out of the hug and widening his eyes up at the slightly taller boy sincerely, before throwing his arm back over Harry's shoulder and tugging the boy over to their two waiting accomplices. Louis noticeably straightens his back as they walk closer, his chest pushing out.

"Hey, H.'' Zayn greets him first, pushing off of the car as he speaks. "Sorry we left you by yourself today at school." He looks sincerely apologetic, his face a picture of remorse, but Harry waves him off.

"It's alright." He tells the dark haired boy, shrugging his shoulders. He refuses to linger on how much it had sucked, being all alone all day. "You guys didn't miss much at all."

"Hi, love." Louis greets him then, cutting Zayn off this time without even realizing (or caring about) it. Harry's green eyes blink over to Louis, meeting the blue gaze instantly.

The boy's cheeks pink prettily, his teeth sinking in his bottom lip. "Hi." He returns, his voice meek, the corners of his lips tugging up into a small, shy smile. Louis returns it tenfold, his eyes crinkling adorably in the corners.

"So, do you guys want to go do something with us for a little? Or would you rather we just dropped you off at your houses?" Zayn asks, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he waits for the answer. Harry's stunned to realize that he isn't wearing his signature leather jacket; instead, after a closer look at his friend, he sees that it's wrapped snuggly around Niall's shoulders.

"Whatever you want to do." Harry tells his friend quietly, giving him free reign after he pulls his stare away from Louis when he feels Niall's bright blue eyes pierce through him in question, grabbing hold of his backpack straps just to have something to do with his hands.

"Let's hang out with you two then." Niall answers, already heading to the back seat of the vehicle. Zayn lets out a quiet chuckle at that, walking around the car to join him in the back seat. Harry's eyebrows raise, realizing he'll be riding up front with Louis.

"Are you sure you don't mind hanging with us for a while then?" A raspy voice speaks up quietly, and Harry startles when he looks up, realizing that Louis' even closer to him then he was just a second ago, the man having made no move to get in the car just yet.

"Of course not." Harry answers just as quietly, shifting around on his feet, the intense stare that's boring into him starting to make him feel a tad self conscious. "As long as you don't mind me tagging along, that is."

"Never." Louis replies instantly, no hesitation, his voice nothing short of serious. "Hop in," Louis' voice is lighter, as he gestures to the car door. "Hope you don't mind being stuck up front with me." He tacks on, grinning lopsidedly, the sight causing Harry's breath to get stuck in his throat, butterflies exploding in his stomach. _Wow_ , he really needs to get a handle on his emotions before he does something embarrassing.

"Course not," Harry returns the grin, unable to help himself, his dimples popping out. The sight causes the grin on Louis' face to widen, and the man backs up, his hand reaching out to pull open the passenger seat door. He waves his free hand, gesturing for Harry to climb in the car. Harry's cheeks flame, but he scrambles into the car. Louis shuts the door behind him, before walking around the front of the car, hopping in the driver seat. The engine starts the second Harry's seatbelt is secured around his body. "Where are we going?" Louis asks his three passengers, carefully pulling out on the road.

"I want to go to the mall." Niall answers, pushing his backpack off of the seat, onto the floor, and he slides over on the cushion so that he's in the middle seat, his side pressed against Zayn's. He leans forward so that his head is in the space between the two front seats, his elbows resting against the seats.

Harry looks over at him before letting his eyes fall to the carpeted floor of the car. His mouth twists unpleasantly at the thought of that place, but he doesn't argue. Instead he crosses his ankles over one another, clasping his hands together and letting them rest in his lap.

"Where do you want to go, Harry?"

Harry lifts his head up, looking over at Louis in surprise. He sees the flat of Louis' hand press against Niall's forehead, giving the boy a shove back in his seat. "Oh, uh." He stutters, shaking his head once to help get his thoughts together. "The mall's fine." He answers, peeking back up at the man.

"You sure?" Louis checks, taking a quick glance over at the boy in his passenger seat, one of his eyebrows raised in question.

"Yeah." Harry nods his head, confirming the answer.

"Oh! I love this song. Turn it up, please." Niall requests, clapping his hands together, belting out the lyrics when Louis complies and turns the radio up.

They pull into the parking lot of the dreaded building a short time later, getting lucky enough to nab a spot close to the door. "C'mon, guys!" Niall yells over his shoulders, jogging towards the entrance door. Zayn grabs his arm, stopping him just before he crosses the road.

"Cars, darling." He sighs, watching as a blue jeep flies by. He starts moving once it's passed, his hold on Niall's arm slackening. Harry follows behind them, with Louis right to his side. Harry stuff his hands in his pockets, looking both ways when he gets to the pass. He nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels the slight pressure of Louis' hand press against his lower back, leading him across the road when they see it's clear of oncoming cars.

The sidewalk is narrow, but Louis shockingly sticks to his side. The two of them have to squeeze together when a small family walks by. Louis keeps his hand on Harry's back, following behind the other two into the noisy building.  

"Let's go in here." Niall calls out to his companions, turning towards them, backing through the entrance. Zayn walks beside him, his arms crossed over his chest as he stares at his boyfriend with a mixture of fond amusement.

Louis shakes his head in amusement at the blond, his hand returning back to his side. Harry bits back his frown, a stab of disappointment hitting him. He brightens up when Louis' hand brushes against the side of his, both of his hands now free from their denim constraints. With every step, their hands swing, constantly bumping into one another's, the two walking over to where they see Niall and Zayn by a clothes rack. Harry, Louis, and Zayn trail behind Niall for a while, as Zayn's arms quickly get full of clothes.

Harry and Louis follow the couple when they start heading towards the dressing rooms, Harry's arms crossed over his chest when he feels Louis' hand on his back again. The man guides him to where they are, even though Harry can clearly see the pair, only a few steps ahead of him. He doesn't complain, not at all, chewing on his bottom lip to stop his smile from spreading across his face.  

Niall gets Zayn to drop the pile of clothes on the chair in the middle of the small dressing room, before he turns around and ushers him out, shutting the door.  

Louis leans back against the wall right across from the door, crossing his arms over his chest, his hips pushed away from the wall. He catches Harry's attention, asking, "Is there any store you want to look at, darlin'?" Harry feels his cheeks heat up at the nickname, but he shakes his head. 

"No, I'm okay." Harry answers, halfheartedly shrugging his shoulders, giving the man a small smile.

"You didn't particularly want to come to the mall, did you?" Louis questions, huffing out a small laugh, one of his eyebrows raising.

Harry shrugs again, more sheepish this time. "I was just here the other day." He tells him. He hesitates for a second, before he walks the few steps closer, leaning his back on the wall next to Louis. Louis twists on the spot, so that he's facing Harry, his shoulder pressed against the wall. He leans his head against the wall, letting his arms drop back to his sides. "Seen everything I wanted to look at then."

"We could have went somewhere else, Niall would have gotten over it." Louis responds, gazing down at the teenager who isn't that much shorter. His dull nails lightly scratch against his jaw, where the light dust of scruff is starting to show up.Â 

Harry laughs, shaking his head. His curls bounce around, getting in his face, so Harry uses his free hand to push them off of his forehead. "It's no big deal." He tells him, letting his stare fall to the ugly carpet. 

The dressing room door bangs open before Louis can say anything else, drawing Harry's attention back up, revealing Niall standing there, posing in a pair of light grey skinny jeans. "What do you think, lads?" Niall asks, fixing himself in another pose. His hand rests on his hip, the hip that he has sticking out, bringing the other hand to the side of his head.

"Looks good, babe." Zayn answers, not even bothering to lift his eyes from his phone screen. Harry looks over at him, having forgotten that he was with them. Niall scoffs, dropping his hands and walking over to smack his boyfriend's chest. Harry stifles a laugh at Zayn's overdramatic gasp, the boy's wide eyes darting up to see his blond boyfriend right in front of him. Louis accidentally lets out a snort, getting a quick glare from Niall a Louis quickly disguises it as a cough. Harry shares a grin with him as Zayn says, "Like I said, babe, they look good." He brings his phone-less hand up to lightly rub the spot that was hit.  

"You didn't even look." Niall defends his actions, crossing his arms over his chest as his lips form a pout.

"Aw, babe-"

"They look good on you, Ni." Harry cuts in, a grin toying at the corners of his mouth, the whole situation amusing to him. Niall's attention snaps over to him, instantly going from narrowed eyes and gritted teeth to squinted eyes and a wide smile.

"Thank you, dear." He turns back to Zayn, a scowl marring his features. "I'm gonna go change back. Then we can grab something to eat and leave?"

"What was the point in me carrying all of those clothes if you weren't gonna try them on?" Zayn complains, letting out a huff as his eyes darting to the bit of the pile that is visible through the halfway open door.

"What do you guys want to eat?" Louis asks, butting in when he sees Niall's eyes narrow dangerously. "I'll go ahead and order the food, and grab us a table."

The mention of food distracts Niall enough. Niall and Zayn rattle off what they want, but when Harry opens his mouth to do so, Louis cuts him off. "Do you want to walk with me? Might need some help remembering what everyone wants."

"Yeah, sure." Harry agrees, pushing off of the wall. Louis' hand slips between Harry's before the curly haired boy realizes it, a tug on his hand alerting him of it. His wide eyes drop down to where their fingers are slotted together as Louis drags him out of the store. He looks up at the man's back, relaxing as he allows a small smile on his face.  

They weave their way through the crowds, until they get to the restaurant everybody wants food from. There's a long line in front of it, but they can see the workers steadily helping people, and Harry follows Louis over to the end of it. Louis doesn't release Harry's hand like he thought he was going into, instead he peers around the table area, attempting to scope out a free table. "So," He speaks up after they move up a few spots in line. Harry lifts his eyes up from where they had drifted to the floor. "The party's day after tomorrow, right?" 

Harry nods his head, letting out a quiet affirmative answer.

"Are you ready for it? I know Niall is, Zayn seems like he is. Well, he seems as excited about it as Zayn can seem about something, that is." Louis chuckles, letting his gaze drop to the floor for a second, before he brings it back up. He runs his free hand through his hair, pulling both of them up in line again.  

"Honestly?" Harry asks hesitantly, not wanting to sound lame, but also not wanting to lie. He waits until Louis nods his head encouragingly, his gaze locked on Harry intently, before he continues. "Not really." He lets out a quiet laugh, even though it isn't funny. "The only reason I'm going to it is because Niall's making me." Harry's head jerks to the side when a loud piercing baby cry rings through the air, seeing a mom cuddle the upset baby to her chest, digging through a bag. He turns his attention back to Louis when he pulls him forward again, blushing embarrassedly for having not noticed the line moving again.  

"If you don't want to go to it, I'll ditch with you." Louis offers, giving the curly haired boy a cheeky grin as the line moves up again. His eyes drift behind Harry for a second, his hand letting go of Harry's hand. His arm wraps around Harry's waist, pulling the curly haired boy into his side. He gives Harry a lopsided grin when the boy gives him a curious look. A moment later Harry hears a loud voice, turns his head to see a group of guys get in line behind them. One of the boys catch Harry's eye, giving Harry a wink. Harry jerks his head back around, his cheeks reddening. Louis' arm tightens around his waist, as the line moves up.  

Harry struggles to remember what they were just walking about, but his mind comes up black. He can only focus on the heat, the weight of Louis' arm around his waist. Harry keeps up with him every time the line moves up until, soon enough, a cashier calls out a loud 'next!' It's a young, pretty girl in front of the register. 

Harry sees the girl's eyes widen when they land on Louis, she doesn't even take note of Harry beside him. "Can I get you something?" She asks, her voice dropping lower than Harry has heard her speak with any of the customers in front of them, her eyelashes batting ridiculously. Her teeth sink in her bottom lip as she waits for Louis' answer.

Harry can't help his frown, his arms crossing over his chest protectively. He looks at the ground, as he too waits for Louis' answer, waits to hear him flirt back with the girl. Except; Louis just rattles off all of their orders, his eyes only going to hers for the time it takes to say his, Niall's, and Zayn's. He doesn't remove his arm from Harry's waist and when he's finished with their orders, he looks down at Harry, a soft smile on his face as he subtly pulls Harry even closer to him. "And what do you want, my love?"

Louis' attention on him causes the girl's attention to shift to him, although hers is way less positive than Louis'. The nickname, the soft stare are enough to make him blush fiercely, but add in the glare he's getting from the girl, he's a mess. "Oh, uh, um." He says his order, only for the girl to interrupt him, quite rudely saying, "What was that? I can't hear you." The volume with which she spoke draws attention from people nearby, which makes Harry even more nervous.  

Harry's cheeks burn brighter, his eyes falling to the ground in order to avoid everyone. He opens his mouth to repeat it, but Louis does it for him, though his tone is much harsher. Harry's eyes fly up to meet Louis', hoping the man's annoyance isn't angled towards him, only to find a harsh glare directed at the girl, who's also blushing a dark color.

Louis passes over the correct amount of money when she stutters it out, though Harry does try paying for half Louis has none of it. He takes the drink as the girl passes them over, giving Harry's and Niall's to Harry for him to hold when he figures out he can't hold all four. Then he starts walking towards the designated area for waiting after biting out a 'next time watch how you talk to customers, yeah?' Harry walks behind him, his eyes glued to the floor.

His cheeks return back to their normal color after a minute, letting out a quiet cough. "Sorry about-"

"You have nothing to apologize for," Louis tells him, shaking his head as he looks over at Harry. "She was unnecessarily rude."

Harry opens his mouth to respond, Louis' gaze intense and holding him captive, when Niall comes bounding over, Zayn hot on his heels carrying the bag of purchased clothes. Harry passes him the Sprite, the drink he wanted, while Louis holds onto Zayn's for him, after he asks him too. "H, come find a table with me, yeah?" Niall asks, but he starts tugging on Harry's arm before Harry can blurt out an answer. Harry raises his eyebrows at his friend's eagerness, managing to hang out to his drink, but lets Niall drags him away. Louis huffs, giving Niall a playful glare, his gaze softening when he turns to Harry, fond smile on his lips.

Harry has to turn his head away to watch where he's going, a smile on his face, or else he'll crash into something (how embarrassing would that be?), weaving in between the tables until him and Niall come across one tucked away from everyone else. Niall claims the nearest seat, so Harry takes the one straight across from him. He takes a sip from his drink, before pushing it away from the edge of the table, for fear of accidentally knocking it down.

Niall clears his throat loudly, pulling Harry's attention away from the styrofoam cup and over to him, the blond's eyebrows already raised. Harry takes one look at his friend's face, before he shakes his head, opening his mouth to change the subject, already knowing what he wants to talk about. Niall doesn't let him get a word in though, rushing to say, "So, you and Louis, hm?"

"Me and Louis nothing, Niall." Harry sighs, leaning back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm not sure if we're even considered friends yet. What about you and Zayn, though? You're wearing his jacket, I see."

"I was cold." Niall offers quietly, shrugs his shoulders as his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, looking down at where his hands are laid out on top of the table.

"Today is the hottest temperature that we've had in over a month." Harry retorts, raising one of his eyebrows. His mouth twists into a smirk as he stares across the table at his friend.  

Niall gives him an unimpressed look, before getting back to the original topic. "C'mon, H, you like Louis, yeah? You think he's hot?"

Harry sighs, winds his hands together, looking down at the table in order to avoid Niall's eyes. He shrugs nonchalantly, struggling to keep his voice quiet and make himself seem uninterested as he says, "Yeah, I guess."

Niall raises both of his eyebrows, forcing Harry to meet his gaze before he says, "You guess? Haz, even I will admit he's gorgeous and I'm with Zayn."

"Fine, okay, yes. He's hot. That doesn't mean anything though," Harry keeps his voice low, glancing over at the waiting area to see if both of the men are still there. They are. "Like I said, I don't even know if he considers us friends yet."

"Zayn told me that Louis was asking all kinds of questions about you. Even made the comment that he thinks you're insanely beautiful and incredibly sweet." Niall tells him, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet up on the one beside him. His arms cross over his chest as he grins over at Harry. Harry's cheeks flame, and he has to bite down on his lip to keep from smiling like a loon in the middle of the shopping mall. "I can come over Saturday so we can get ready together, right?" Niall asks after a beat passes.  

"Yeah, course, Niall." Harry answers, sighing in relief at the change of topic. "How are we gonna get there though? There's no way Gemma will let us ride with her."

"Zayn and Louis will come pick us up." Niall shrugs.  

"Okay," Harry agrees. He turns back to check when the two are at after Niall starts complaining about the food, just in time to see Louis and Zayn making their way through the tables and wandering people, a tray of food in Louis' hands. When they reach the table, Louis sets the tray in the center, before pulling the chair beside Harry out from beneath the table, taking a seat.

"I should have sent these bags to the table with you," Zayn complains, taking a seat on the chair beside Niall. "My arms feel like they're about to fall off." He lets the bags drop unceremoniously to the ground, wincing as he moves his shoulders, rubbing his forearms.  

"Oh, hush, I didn't get that much stuff." Niall rolls his eyes at his boyfriend's whining, grabbing his sandwich from the tray.

Harry shakes his head at the duo, grinning as he reaches out to grab his own food. He sets his chicken nuggets beside his drink, grabbing a few napkins from the pile that Louis thought to get. He grabs a thing of fries, managing not to hit anyone else's hand in the process as everyone tries to get all of their own food.  

"You guys will come pick us up for the party, right? Me and Harry want to get ready together." Niall asks as everyone starts to dig into their food, thankfully swallowing his fry first. Harry looks over at his friend, shaking his head as he grins, taking a bite of one of his chicken nuggets. 

"Yeah, babe." Zayn answers, taking a bite of his sandwich, a french fry in his other hand. 

Louis takes a drink from his straw, before he says, "Or you guys could bring your stuff over to the house and get ready there." He offers, setting the cup back on the table.

"Nah, we'll just get ready at Harry's." Niall responds, biting off a piece of his sandwich. He chews it, swallowing, then adds, "We'll probably stay Saturday night though." 

"Harry?" Louis asks when the boy doesn't agree or disagree with that plan, pulling his focus off of the table. 

"Hm?" Harry asks, looking up. He sees all three looking at him, and Niall is grinning at him for some reason. 

"Do you want to stay the night Saturday too?"

"Sounds good, yeah." Harry agrees easily, giving him a small smile.

Louis purses his lips, but nods his head, letting the subject drop. The four of them get back to eating their food, occasional chatter filling the silence that has enveloped the table. Harry offers his input every now and then, but for the most part he just focuses on his food.

After they finish eating, they pile their trash on the tray, and Louis takes it over to the trash can. Zayn grabs Niall's bags again, and they head to the exit. Niall and Zayn end up taking the lead again, walking a few steps ahead of them.

"You're really quiet, aren't you?" Louis asks, keeping his voice low as he walks up beside the younger boy.

Harry jumps a bit, having been focused on his feet and not tripping, but nods his head, shrugging. "A bit, yeah." He admits, offering a soft chuckle.

"Stick with me, love, I'll get that voice out of you real quick." Louis gives the boy a playful wink, a cheeky grin on his face that turns into a fond smile at the sound of Harry's giggle. "Which reminds me, actually. I meant to ask you before you left last time, and then I was going to ask Zayn, but I figured that would be weird. So I was going to at the party, but I can now. Can I get your number?"

Harry's eyes go a bit wide in surprise, but he's nodding his head before he can even think about it. "Yeah, course." He smiles, chewing on the corner of his lip as he looks over at Louis.  

Louis grins, digging his phone out of his pocket and passing it over to Harry to enter his contact information. The boy does and then passes it back, sharing a soft smile with Louis. Louis' hand goes back to Harry's back, leading him out of the mall, to the car where Niall and Zayn are waiting for it to be unlocked. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost 5.9k words, wowfjhj. cuddly/protective louis is so cute. x  
> Twitter; clumsyxhes  
> Instagram: toplinson_haz  
> Tumblr; larrylashtonmalum


	8. Chapter 8

Harry's pulled out of his slumber by the incessant ringing of his alarm clock. He blinks sleepily, his lips stretching wide with a yawn as a hand fumbles out from beneath the blanket to silence the noise. He groans, rubbing his eyes and rolling over on his back. 

He lays there for a minute, trying to wake himself all the way up, before he pushes himself up so he's sitting, letting the covers fall off of his shoulders, pooling in his lap. He reaches for his phone that's lying on his bedside table, pulling it off of the charger cable and letting the cord fall to the ground. Hitting the home button, he scrolls through the notifications on his phone, running his fingers through his hair once to push the curls out of his eyes, until he comes across a green icon and assumes that it's a message from Niall.

But, it isn't from Niall.

_Good morning , darling ! This is Louis .x_

The phone nearly slips out of his grasp from shock as the letters on the screen connect in his mind. He feels his cheeks heat up at the sight of the pet name, despite the man not even being present in the room. His fingers tap the sides of his phone mindlessly before he realizes he hasn't responded to Louis yet. He chews on his lip as he types back a message, his eyes reading back over it to make sure everything is spelled correctly. He presses send before he can talk himself out of it.

_Good morning :)_

Harry makes sure that the message says delivered beneath it before he sets his phone on the bed beside him, laying his head back against his pillow to stretch his limbs out. His phone chimes quietly right as he's tossing his legs over the side of his bed. He scrambles to grab it, the device nearly slipping out of his hands in his haste.

_How'd you sleep , love ?_

_Good and you ?_

Harry waits for a minute, phone still grasped in his hands, but a reply doesn't come through. With a sigh, he heads into the bathroom to take a quick shower, starting his process of getting ready for the day. By the time he's dressed and by his phone again, not one, but two messages are on his screen, both of them delivered back to back a few minutes after he had gotten into the shower.

_Dreamt of you so I'd say pretty damn good ;)_

_Have a great day at school H ! xx_

Harry's jaw goes slack, heat rushing to his cheeks, as he stares wide-eyed at his phone, his mind racing for a response. But his mind goes blank and, with a sigh, he sets his phone back down and carries on getting ready for school.

-

"I'm not wearing that, Niall." Harry declares, firmly standing his ground on the subject as he crosses his arms over his chest. He raises his eyebrows at his friend, staring him down as his lips turn to the side persistently. He lets his eyes drift back to the outfit Niall picked out; or rather, lack of an outfit he picked out.

"C'mon, H, it'll look so good on you." Niall pleads, widening his eyes to further coax his friend into wearing the sheer white shirt and tight, tight black skinny jeans. Harry only raises one of his eyebrows, unimpressed. So Niall realizes he's getting no where, changes tactics, deciding to go for another approach. "Louis won't be able to take his eyes off you." He insists, barely able to bite back a smug grin when he sees Harry's cheeks turn a light shade of pink. He gestures wildly towards the outfit he has spread out on Harry's bed, trying his best to tempt him into wearing it.

Harry adjusts the towel around his waist, subconsciously tightening his grip on it so that it doesn't slide off of his body, as he shakes his head vehemently. "No, I think you mean it would look incredibly ridiculous on me and everyone, _including Louis_ , would laugh."

Niall huffs, falling back on the bed. He lands on top of the clothes and quickly pushes them out from underneath him. "It would look good on you, Harry." He tells him, bright eyes gazing up at the curly haired boy.

The repeated compliment mixed with the sincerity it's said makes Harry pause, glancing warily at the clothes again. "No, thanks." He finally settles on saying, shaking his head.

Niall sighs, but he stops badgering him about the outfit. He sits up on the bed and watches as Harry heads over to his closet, one of his hands still firmly holding the towel in place so that it doesn't fall to the floor. "Fine, whatever you feel comfortable in, H. Okay?" He calls out and, when Harry glances over his shoulder at him, he has a small, reassuring smile on his face. "I'm gonna go take my shower." He tells him. 

Harry nods his head, waits for Niall to close the bathroom door behind him, before he looks back at the outfit, chewing on his lip in thought. _If Niall thinks he would look good_ , he mulls the idea over in his mind, eyeing the thin material of the shirt nervously. He shakes his head a second later, _maybe another time_ , turning back to face the closet and perusing his options. He ends up yanking a pair of dark skinny jeans off of the hanger, this pair being much looser than the ones Niall picked out, and a red flannel button up shirt. He drops his towel to the floor, heading over to his drawer to get a pair of briefs. He slides them up his legs, followed by his jeans, shimmying around to get them up his thighs. His arms are slid in his shirt and, as he goes to button it up, his bedroom door slams open, startling him enough that he jumps, his arms crossing to cover his bare chest. Green eyes fly over to the doorway to see Gemma, standing there. He relaxes until he notices her arms crossed over her chest and her eyes narrowed at him. "Why did mom just tell me she hopes you have fun at the party tonight?"

Harry freeze, his fingers loosening their grip on the second button, as he realizes that he hasn't told his sister about his friend's plans for the night. "Oh, um. Uh." Eloquent as ever, he is.

"Please tell me it isn't the same party I'm going to tonight." She begs, her eyebrows scrunching together. Her body sags to the side, the wooden edges of the doorframe catching her weight and holding her up.

"You know Niall." Harry shrugs helplessly, offering her an apologetic tilt of his lips. "I don't want to go, but he does."

Gemma sighs, runs her hand down her face as her eyes squeeze shut. She shakes her head, mumbling under her breath, "I've really got to learn to watch what I say around him." She moves her hand so that it isn't obstructing her view, peering across the room at Harry. "So you two losers are going to the party by yourselves then?" She asks.

Harry shakes his head, ignoring the insult for the moment, and looks back down at his shirt as his fingers start working the buttons through the correct holes. "Niall's boyfriend and his boyfriend's friend are going with us."

Gemma's eyebrows scrunch together as she stares at her little brother incredulously. "Niall has a boyfriend?" She asks, her voice raising with her disbelief. "Since when?"

Harry shrugs again. "Few weeks maybe?" He estimates, sparing her a glance as he pops the last button through the hole.

"Wow." Gemma says, her eyebrows knitting together. She nods after a minute, her expression turning impressed. "Good for Niall then. This guy's good to him, yeah? Treats him like he deserves?"

Harry nods. "He's a good guy."

"Good." Gemma responds, before she points over her shoulder and pushes off of the doorframe. "I'm gonna go finish doing my make up and stuff."

She doesn't wait for Harry to say anything and she doesn't bother to shut the door on her way out. Niall walks back into Harry's room shortly after, his body completely bare of clothes. Harry groans loudly, covering his eyes with his arm. "Niall. Clothes. Now." He grits out, making sure to clearly annunciate each word. A frown comes on his face as he listens to the loud cackle that follows his demand. He listens to rustling for a few seconds before he takes a risk by moving his arm and opening his eyes. Thankfully the boy's already put his briefs on and is in the process of putting skinny jeans on.

Harry lights the screen of his phone up, taking a peek of the clock. He balks at the time, turning to Niall with wide eyes. "Hurry up, Niall! They're gonna be here any minute now. Shit, does my hair look bad?" Harry worries, darting over to the mirror to take a peek of himself.

Niall snorts, shaking his head. His actions don't speed up at all, despite Harry's warning of the two's arrival. He slips his shirt over his head as he says, "Chill, Zayn's knows me. They won't get here until like half an hour after when I told them too, probably."

Harry raises his eyebrows at the statement, but Niall doesn't rush anything, so Harry stops fussing over his hair at the moment. "You really like Zayn, don't you?" He comments quietly, his voice soft.

Niall grins widely at the question, nodding his head as he turns to meet Harry's eye. "I really, really like him." He agrees, his teeth sinking in his bottom lip in an attempt to contain his smile. "He makes me happy."

"Good." Harry nods his head once, smiling over at his friend. "I'm really happy for you, Ni."

"Thank you." Niall returns the grin happily. After a second he dives forward, yanking his unsuspecting best friend into a hug. A laugh is started out of Harry, but the curly haired boy doesn't oppose the hug. "You're gonna be very happy real soon too." Niall mumbles quietly, so quietly Harry's not even sure if he heard it correctly. Then again, maybe that was Niall's intention.

Harry's eyebrows furrow together and he opens his mouth, about to ask him to repeat it, when they're interrupted by a yell from Harry's mother. "Boys, your friends are here!"

It sends both boys into a panic. The thought slips out of Harry's mind as he darts back over to the mirror, hurriedly attempting to tame his curls. Niall rushes to stand beside him, shoving him out of his way as he hisses curses about Zayn under his breath. Harry vaguely hears something about his 'stupidly perfect hair and annoyingly chiseled cheekbones' so Harry's sure he isn't being too harsh.

Niall lets out a sigh as he stares as his image in the mirror, letting his teeth sink in his bottom lip. Niall grabs his arm, pulling both himself and Harry away from the glass, out of the bedroom door. They barely remember to grab their phones off of the chargers.

As they get to the bottom of the staircase, Harry hears his mother's voice ringing through the air. Harry sucks in a deep breath, suddenly very aware of the fact he's about to see Louis again.

The two boys follow the sound of Anne's voice, until they spot the three of them near the door. Zayn and Louis are next to one another, right across from where Anne is standing. They're all smiling, Louis' saying something, and Anne is even laughing. Harry takes in the sight of Louis in a loose white t-shirt, a denim button up over the top of it, completely unbuttoned. He's paired it with dark skinny jeans and white converse.

As soon as Harry and Niall walk up to them, all three pairs of eyes turn to them. Louis' blue eyes instantly lock on him, whatever the man was saying forgotten. Harry freezes in place, lost in the stare, his breath caught in his throat.

"Hey, babe." Zayn greets his boyfriend, walking over to the blond boy and pulling him into a hug.

Louis moves a few steps closer, his eyes never drifting away from Harry. "Hi, H." He says quietly, his lips pulling up into a smile.

"Hi." Harry returns the smile, his cheeks flushing. His gaze drops to his shoes and his feet turn in on each other, biting his lip to try and stop the silly smile from appearing on his face.

"Well," Anne interjects, causing all four heads to snap over to face her. She's grinning knowingly at Harry, a twinkle in her eye, which causes his cheeks to darken even more so. "You boys have fun tonight. Louis, Zayn, you two take good care of my boys tonight, yeah?"

"Absolutely." Louis promises, nodding his head resolutely. Anne's gaze shifts to him and she gives him a soft smile, reaching over and patting his shoulder.

"Alright, alright, you boys better get going." She starts ushering them towards the door. Before Harry can step out into the fresh air, Anne pulls him into a hug, smacking a kiss on his forehead. Harry squeaks, pulling out of her arms and furiously rubbing his hand against his forehead. His cheeks heat up uncomfortably so and he inwardly groans, because _way to seem like a baby_.

"Excuse me, where's my kiss?" Niall shouts, waving his hands around.. Harry looks over at him, careful to keep his eyes away from Louis after that display. A pout is on Niall's face, his arms crossed over his chest. Anne laughs, opening her arms for the blond boy to dive into.

When they walk out of the house a minute later, Louis and Zayn walking a step ahead of them, Niall shoots him a wink and throws his arm over his shoulder.

"Are you driving, or am I?" Zayn asks as they reach the car. He raises his eyebrows, leaning his shoulder against the car.

Louis shrugs, reaching in his back pocket. He pulls out a key ring, tossing it over to Zayn as he says, "You can. Haz and I will take the back."

Zayn catches the keys, nods his head once, and pushes off of the car. Louis steps forward and pulls open the back door, giving Harry a grin as he gestures for him to climb in. When Harry's safely inside, Louis shuts the door and jogs around the back of the car, hopping in on the opposite side.

"This party is going to be so much fun!" Niall cheers, twisting around in his seat. Zayn chuckles at his boyfriend, agreeing quietly. Harry doesn't say anything, doesn't realize his nose is scrunching up until he hears Louis laughing quietly. Harry turns to face him, giving him a sheepish smile. Louis puts his hand in the space between them, leaning his weight on it as he leans forward. Harry's eyes widen, and then Louis' mouth presses against his ear. Louis keeps his voice a whisper as he tells the boy, "We can grab some snacks and sneak off to the quieter section of the party and wait it out." He grins when he hears the boy giggle quietly.

Niall twists around in his seat, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at the pair in the backseat. There's amusement in his eyes though, and something else Harry can't quite decipher. "What's this giggling I hear about?" He demands. 

Harry freezes, sinking in his teeth in his bottom lip. "If we wanted you to know," Louis speaks up, and Harry steals a glance at him. One of his eyebrows are raised at the blond, one side of his mouth turning  up into a lopsided smirk. Harry's insides turn. "We would have spoken loud enough for you to hear."

"I hate you both." Niall declares, turning around in his seat and crossing his arms. Harry releases his bottom lip, allowing the smile to spread across his face.

"So who's party is this anyways? Like were any of us even invited? We aren't crashing it, are we?" Zayn speaks up, nervously tapping his finger against the steering wheel.

"Isn't it a tad too late to be worrying about all of that?" Louis questions, chuckling. He leans further back in his seat, letting out a quiet sigh.

"It's my sister's friend's party." Harry answers after Zayn only rolls his eyes at Louis through the middle mirror.

Zayn nods his head once. "Were we invited?" Zayn asks again.

Harry lets out a quiet laugh, raising his eyebrows at the driver. "Haven't you learned Niall invites himself everywhere?"

-

The party's in full swing by the time they pull up. Harry breathes deeply through his nose as he gazes out across the lawn, loud music thumping through the air. There's a few people hanging out on the porch, drinks in their hands. Louis startles him out of his thoughts by pulling open the door, a warm smile on his face. He has his hand extended in front of him and Harry takes it with a smile as he lets Louis pull him out of the car. Ahead of them Harry sees Niall dragging Zayn up the steps of the porch, disappearing inside the house. "C'mon, love." Louis says quietly, but Harry's able to hear him over the buzzing music. Louis pulls the boy in the same direction Zayn and Niall went.

Harry sticks close to the man as they make their way inside, finding comfort in the fact that Louis is staying with him, is holding his hand so tightly. As they enter the house the music only grows louder, to the point where Harry can barely hear himself think. The bass thumps, gyrating bodies moving in time with the beat, Harry's whole body vibrates with the energy. His fingers tighten their grip on Louis subconsciously as they begin to push their way through a hord of people, quickening his steps so that he's closer to him, nearly flush against the man's side.

Louis leads him past a few stragglers and they find themselves in a kitchen. The area is completely vacant. Harry loosens his grip on Louis' hand, but he doesn't move back away from him, peering around the large room. Louis gives his hand a light squeeze as he looks down at him. "You okay?" He asks, his eyes glittering with concern.

"I'm good," Harry answers with a small grin, nodding his head as he turns to face Louis.

"Good," Louis nods his head with a smile, before tugging Harry further into the kitchen. "You want to just hang out here unless it starts getting crowded? Or would you rather go try to find somewhere else?"

"Here's fine," Harry answers. A thought comes to his mind then, and he hesitates, eyeing the entrance of the doorway.

"What's wrong, love?" Louis asks, frowning. His feet come to a halt as he takes note of the look on Harry's face. 

"I don't know if you like parties or anything, or if you were actually looking forward to the party. You don't have to stay here with me if you want to go enjoy the party." Harry tells him, eyeing his shoes as he waits for Louis' reply.

He hears a light laugh, and he quickly risks a look at Louis' face to make sure the man isn't mocking him. He isn't. Louis brings his other hand up to cup Harry's cheeks, a soft smile on his mouth. "Love, trust me, I couldn't be less interested in the party. The only reason I even wanted to come was because Zayn told me you were coming." Louis admits, running his thumb back and forth on Harry's cheek once before he lets his hand fall back to his side.

"Really?" Harry asks, his eyes widening.  

"Yes. Why do you look so surprised?" Louis laughs quietly.

Harry shrugs helplessly, letting his eyes fall back to his shoes. He's smiling though. Louis takes a step back and then another and another, pulling Harry back with him until his back is resting against the counter. He drops Harry's hand so he can lift himself up on the counter. Harry raises his eyebrows at the man, amusement dancing in his eyes. Louis grins at him, patting the spot on the counter next to him as he raises one eyebrow playfully at him, challenging him. Harry lets out a quiet laugh, but he steps up to the counter and hops up beside Louis, biting his lip when he feels their thighs pressing together. One quick look up at Louis tells him that he doesn't mind it.

"So," Louis says, turning his body towards Harry. All the movement does is push their thighs closer together. "Tell me about yourself."

So Harry does. He tells him everything he can think of, answers all the questions Louis shoots out at him. In return he asks his own and Louis answers them. The music, the people, everything fades away into the back of Harry's mind. The whole time all Harry can focus on is the fact that it's him who's getting Louis' undivided attention and he feels unbelievably special. They're laughing at a story Louis told when they're interrupted by a soft "Harry?"

Both Harry and Louis' heads snap over to where the voice came from. Harry recognizes it to be Liam who's standing by the table. He has a kind smile on his face, but even from this distance Harry can see how his eyes keep drifting to Louis beside him. Harry gives him a small smile and a quiet, "Hey, Liam."

"How are you?" Liam asks, dropping his gaze to the various bottles on the table. He grabs one that's near him and starts pouring some of the contents in his own cup. Beside him, Louis shifts around. Then he feels Louis leaning against his side, his arm wrapping around his shoulders. 

"I'm good, you? The rest of your first day went good, yeah?"

Liam nods his head, grinning as he looks back over at the pair. "That's good, and yeah, I'm good. I actually really like the school. Although I might have to relearn my schedule." He chuckles, taking a sip from his cup.

"What do you mean?" Harry asks, his eyebrows furrowing. Absentmindedly, he starts drawing shapes on the knee of his jeans, his dull nails dragging against the denim. He feels the weight of Louis' head fall against his shoulder and he throws an amused glance at the man, to which Louis gives a toothy smile. Louis drops his gaze to where Harry's drawing circles, reaching his hand out to do the same.

When he looks back at Liam, the boy's eyes are on Louis' hand. But he snaps them back up to meet Harry's, forcing a small smile on his face. "Oh, the main office told me that they might have to switch my schedule around. Apparently Ms. Wade's class is a bit too crowded for the class I have with her."

"Ahh," Harry nods, stilling his hand and letting it fall back against his stomach.

"Well, I better be getting back. See you around, Harry."

"Bye, Liam."

As the boy disappears in the crowd, Harry takes notice of all the people who's gathered in the room throughout the night. He feels Louis' hand still on his knee and it pulls Harry's attention back to the man beside him. Harry turns around, knocking Louis' hand off of his knee. His shoulder presses into the cupboard, and he lets the wood support his head as he stares at Louis. Louis lets out a quiet laugh, moving to copy his position, his feet on either side of Harry's, their knees pressed together. 

"Hey, guys!" A voice yells. Harry recognizes it to be Zayn, but neither of them look away, the stare becoming a competition. "We've been looking for you two for twenty minu- what the hell are you two doing?"

"Must not have been looking hard enough, we've been right here this whole time." Louis retorts, still not breaking the stare.

Instead of questioning them further, Zayn shakes his head. "Are you guys ready to go? We are." 

Louis groans loudly, finally breaking the stare to glare at Zayn, standing in the entrance of the kitchen. He opens his mouth to say something, but Harry cuts him off, chirping out, "I win!" 

"You did not!" Louis argues,  turning back to the curly haired boy only to see him hopping down from the counter. "Zayn made me look away, it doesn't count." 

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Harry giggles, pushing his hair back as he heads over to Zayn. Louis smiles fondly, sliding down and following after him. 

"Niall's already in the car." Zayn tells them, turning on his heel and heading for the front door.

"That party was way lamer than I was thinking it was gonna be." Niall says when they're all in the car, pulling out onto the road.

"I don't know," Harry speaks up, though his voice is quieter than Niall's. "I actually had fun." He admits. He takes a quick peek at Louis after the words leave his mouth; he's already looking back, a wide smile on his face, his eyes crinkling in the corners.

He expects Niall to tease him for that, but surprisingly he doesn't. Instead he says, "That's good, H. I'm glad." The car gets quiet, not even music from the radio playing. Niall waits a few minutes, before he asks, "Are we going back to your house tonight or are we staying the night at theirs?"

Harry shrugs, crossing his ankles, resting his hands in his lap. "I'm fine with staying at their house, if they're sure they don't mind having us."

"Of course not," rings in Harry's ears before he even finishes speaking, Zayn and Louis chorusing the words.

"Okay. I didn't bring any clothes to change into though. You'll let me borrow some, right Zee?" Niall asks, looking over at him. He leans his arm against the middle console, resting his head against the palm of his hand. 

"I didn't bring any either," Harry realizes, looking down at his outfit. He shrugs. "I can just sleep in this though."

"Nonsense, love." Louis cuts in, drawing Harry's attention over to him. "You can wear some of my clothes."

"Are you sure?"

"'Course."

"So where were you guys during the party?" Niall asks curiously, turning his head so he can see Louis, but not Harry unless he cranes his neck more, straining his muscles. 

"In the kitchen," Louis answers, crossing his arms and letting them fall against his stomach. He leans further back into the seat, resting his head against the window. 

"I'm surprised you didn't find us actually." Harry comments quietly, pulling a snicker from Louis. The curly haired boy smiles, pleased with himself.

"Haha, so funny." Harry can practically hear Niall's blue eyes roll.

-

"Are you two ready for bed or do you want to watch a movie or something?" Zayn asks, closing the front door behind them. He tosses the keys back over to Louis, kicking his shoes off and using his foot to push them closer to the wall. 

"Not really tired yet," Niall answers, before giving his boyfriend a smile of faux innocence. "But I am ready to change."

Zayn chuckles, nodding his head. He leans over, presses a quick kiss to Niall's forehead. "I'll go get them."

"C'mere," Louis calls out, catching Harry's attention by grabbing his hand and gently tugging on it. Harry follows behind him as he starts to head to the stairs, ignoring Niall's eyebrow wiggle that the boy does as they walk by.

Harry nearly stops in his tracks when he realizes where Louis is leading him. Louis flicks the light on, letting go of Harry's hand to head over to another door on the far side of the room. "Joggers fine?" He asks, pulling a t-shirt off of a hanger. He looks over his shoulder at Harry. "I think I have a pair that will fit you decent enough, might have to roll the bottom a few times."

"Joggers are fine, thank you." Harry manages to keep his voice steady, giving himself a mental pat on the back as his eyes flicker over to the bed in the center of the room, and he shifts his weight on his feet, lightly scratching his dull nails against his forearm. 

Louis throws him a smile, before he sets off on the task of finding a pair of joggers. A minute later he returns to Harry, holding the clothes out for him to take. A smile is on his face as he points to another door, instructs, "The bathroom is right through there. You can change in there and come downstairs when you're ready."

Harry nods, returning the smile. Louis turns on his heel and walks out of the room. Harry goes to the door Louis said was his bathroom and walks inside. He makes quick work of stripping his clothes off, and slips on the joggers. He does have to roll the bottom twice so that he can walk without tripping. Then he pulls the t-shirt on and steps back to see himself in the full length mirror. The clothes are big and look a bit ridiculous on him, he muses, sighing as he runs his fingers through his hair. But hopefully he doesn't look too terrible. He doesn't let himself think on it too much, and he leaves the bathroom.

As he's walking by the dresser, he sees a whole bunch of pictures; various pictures of Louis and some girls. There's one that he assumes is of Louis and his mother. As Harry takes a closer look, he figures that the girls must be his sisters or some form of relatives, they all look so similar to him.

Harry shakes his head, stopping himself from snooping further. He already feels like he intruded too much. When he hits the bottom of the staircase, he hears the sound of the boys talking. He was about to just walk in, not wanting to listen in on their conversation, but then he hears his name and his curiosity gets the best of him.

"Lou's gonna lose it when he walks down the stairs smelling like him, wearing his clothes." Zayn says, a quiet chuckle following his statement.

Harry frowns at the weird word choice, squinting his eyes and turning his head to the side, straining his ears to hear the next person. Smelling like him? Meaning like his cologne? Harry thinks, his eyebrows scrunching together. 

"Oh, fuck off." Louis snaps. Harry's frown deepens, his stomach dropping as he realizes he's about to hear Louis deny everything Niall's been telling him, deny what he's honestly started thinking himself. He's gonna hear that Louis doesn't actually like him like that and he's just being friendly, that Harry doesn't actually have a chance with him. He's tempted to walk in then, pretend like he hasn't heard anything just so that he doesn't have to hear it, but his feet are frozen in his place on the floor. "I know how to control myself around him, I've been doing it." 

"Barely." Niall snorts. Harry can picture him rolling his eyes. 

"Shut up," Louis grumbles. "It's not my fault he's irresistible." Harry's eyebrows raise in surprise at the compliment, but his cheeks flush. "Now shut up, he could be walking down any moment now."

The room goes quiet at that, nobody else saying a peep. Harry takes that as his cue, waits another minute, before he carefully backs up, then walks down the last step again, making his footsteps a smidge louder than they normally are. He walks into the living room, causing all three pairs of eyes to fly to him. He nervously grabs the hem of the shirt he's wearing, his cheeks heating up as his gaze falls to the carpet. He pads forward, keeping his eyes down. He walks up to the couch Louis is on and takes a seat next to him, pulling his feet up on the couch with him, curling in on himself. His arms wrap around his knees, holding them to his chest. He peeks up, seeing both Niall and Zayn have looked away, occupying themselves with getting comfortable on the couch they're on. 

"What movie do you want to watch, H?" Zayn asks as he stills, breaking the silence that has settled on the room. "We can't decide." 

"I did decide-" Niall yells out, only to be cut off by Zayn. 

"We are not watching Fifty Shades Of Grey, Niall." He declares, giving the boy a stern narrow of his eyes. 

"But-" 

"No." 

"But-" 

"I've been wanting to watch Girls Trip," Louis cuts into their bickering. Harry's eyes drift over to him. Louis leans his elbow on the couch, crossing his ankles, his other hand resting on his thigh. "What do you want to watch?" 

Harry shrugs when neither one of the other two say anything. "I'm fine with Girls Trip." He replies. 

"So am I," Zayn says, putting the movie on despite the protests from Niall. He shuts the lights off while he's at it, bathing the room in darkness. Harry's fine for a bit, though he doesn't pay much attention to the movie, but then the air in the room starts to become chilly to him and he wraps his arms tighter around himself to reserve heat. It helps for a little, but then Harry gets cold again, and he tries to shift around without disturbing Louis, who looks pretty into the movie. But he can't get comfortable. He shifts again, still trying his best not to bother Louis. 

"C'mere." He hears someone say quietly. He looks up and sees Louis extending his arms towards him. His eyebrows furrow, confused as to what Louis' offering. Louis rolls his eyes playfully, smiling all the while. "Well, c'mon, then. Don't you want a good cuddle?" 

A grin takes over Harry's face before he even realizes it. He slides across the cushion until his side is pressed against Louis' before he hesitates, chewing on his lower lip as he blinks up at Louis unsurely. Louis smiles, wraps his arm around Harry's waist and leans back into the couch. Harry leans his head on Louis' shoulder, pressing against Louis without putting too much of his weight on him. It takes a second for Harry to sense the heat radiating off of Louis' body and when he does he can't resist burrowing into the warmth. He feels Louis' other arm wrap around him, landing on his lower arm. "Jeez, Hazza, you're freezing." Louis comments quietly. Harry peeks up at him, seeing the frown of his brown, the concern in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me you were cold? I would have already got you a blanket. Here," He pats Harry's arm gently. "Let me go grab one." 

Harry pulls back, wrapping his arms back around his knees as he watches Louis jog out of the room. "Hey," Zayn calls out, right before Louis leaves the room. "Want us to pause it?" 

"It's okay," Louis calls back. He returns a minute later with a blanket and wraps it around Harry before he sits back down. Harry huddles beneath the blanket, his body racked by shivers as it warms up. Louis scoffs quietly, raising his eyebrows, a teasing smirk on his face. "Oi, I didn't get you that blanket for you to leave me. Get back over 'ere." 

Harry grins, his dimple popping out, keeping the blanket tight around him as he presses back against Louis' side. Louis pulls part of the blanket over his thighs and lower stomach, careful not to uncover Harry at all. He sticks his arms under the cover, wrapping them around Harry and pulling him tighter into his side, rubbing his hand up and down on the exposed skin of his arm. Harry buries his face in the crook of Louis' neck, sighing contentedly. He doesn't pay any more attention to the movie, only focuses on snuggling with Louis, the soft feel of his hand against his arm. 

They stay like that for a few minutes, before Louis starts to shift them on the couch, moving Harry around with him until they're diagonal on the couch, Louis' back propped up by the arm of the couch, Harry between him and the back of the couch. Harry's head rests on his chest, his hand resting on his lower stomach. He bends his knees the slightest bit so his feet are still beneath the blanket. 

The blanket combined with Louis' insane body heat warms Harry up fairly quickly. The boy's eyes start to get heavy, but he's too comfortable to bring himself to move. He falls asleep, cuddled against Louis. 

 


	9. Chapter 9

Harry's lips turn down into a frown as the light buzz of chatter fills his ears, rousing him back to consciousness. His eyelids stay sealed shut, his emerald eyes not yet ready to be revealed to the morning light. Warmth surrounds him and he snuggles blindly into it, his lips stretching with a silent yawn. His nose scrunches up as his brain recognizes the uncomfortable feeling of his sweatpants twisting around his leg, the blanket covering him further heightening the feeling. A firm weight is circled around his waist, anchoring him down.

"Be quieter, babe." He hears someone whisper from across the room, barely concealed amusement laced in their voice. Harry's forehead wrinkles as his sleep-hazed brain tries to place who the voice belongs to. "You're gonna wake them up, and you know Louis will get mad if that happens." It dawns on Harry then that it's Zayn speaking, as he listens to the quiet chuckle that follows the statement echo through the room.

Harry sighs, the noise audible enough to reach Zayn and Niall's ears, as he slowly lets his eyes flutter open, having to blink a few times to adjust to the light streaming in through the windows. Belatedly he realizes his nose is pressed against a t-shirt that's pulled tight across a muscular chest. He flushes, remembering how he fell asleep against Louis last night during the movie. "Too late for that," He mumbles, low and gravelly. His eyes trail from the t-shirt, up to a tan throat, past a sparse coating of hair over a sharp jawline, thin pink lips parted as tiny puffs of air slip between them, before finally landing on the closed eyelids that he knows are hiding cerulean eyes. Louis' face is right above his, his chin nearly resting against the top of Harry's head. The back of Louis' head is propped up on a pillow that Harry doesn't remember being there when he fell asleep. And somehow during Harry's sleep one of Harry's legs got intertwined between Louis'. The strong vice around his waist tightens and Harry tenses, his eyes shooting back up to Louis' face, his shoulders relaxing when he sees that Louis is still asleep.

He lets his gaze drift away from Louis' face, propping up on his elbow to peer over Louis, over to the other couch. Zayn and Niall occupy the cushions, the two cuddled up together with a large blanket spread over their legs. They're both already looking back at Harry; a smirk is on Niall's face while Zayn is smiling at him.

"Yes." Niall speaks up after the stare down turns awkward (for Harry, at least). His voice is just above a whisper, but the words carry through the quiet room, as does the smug undertone in his voice. It sends blood rushing to Harry's cheeks, heating the skin uncomfortably. Harry shifts on the couch, the blanket bunching up as he closes his fist, pulling the soft fabric up so it covers his face from the nose down. He turns his head so he can press his face against Louis' bicep before he even realizes what he's doing. "You guys have been cuddled together all night. Got about a hundred pics to prove it too." The blond boy waves his phone in the air as an offering of proof, even though Harry isn't looking at him anymore.

Harry groans quietly at the news, his features twisting with his shock. Louis starts to shift beside him, causing Harry to realize where his face is hiding against. Zayn's lips twitch as he tries to swallow a chuckle, taking a second to school his features in an attempt to look exasperated, but fondness wins out. He looks back over to Harry, an eyebrow raising. "You up for going out for breakfast, Haz?"

Harry thinks it over, his head tilting to the side. Going out would mean having to wake Louis up, and he looks so peaceful. "Do you guys have anything to make for breakfast here?" He asks, chewing on his lip. "I can just cook if so, if you guys want me too. So we wouldn't have to go anywhere just yet." Harry offers, shrugging.

"You cook?" Zayn asks, his eyebrows raising in surprise.

"He's the best cook ever," Niall butts in, eagerly nodding his head. He peers up at his boyfriend, widening his eyes earnestly, "Please say you guys actually have food here."

"We do, yeah. Or we should, anyways." Zayn answers, scratching his chin. He looks back over to Harry, giving him a small smile. "That would be great, if you're sure you want to cook."

"I love cooking," Harry tells him, smiling, shrugging again. He sets about untangling himself from Louis without waking the man up, easing his legs over the edge of the couch until his feet hit the ground. He shifts his weight forward, trying not to put too much of his weight on Louis as he stands up. Louis grumbles under his breath, shifting around on the couch. Harry holds his breath, watching Louis' face carefully for any signs that he accidentally woke him up. But Louis just rolls over on his stomach, burying his face in the pillow.

Harry sighs in relief, tugging his shirt down over the exposed bit of belly his shirt had slid up to reveal. He runs his fingers through his hair in a failed attempt at taming the wild mess that he knows is on top of his head.

He heads into the kitchen, quickly scanning the contents of the cabinets and the refrigerator to see what ingredients he has to work with. Its actually fairly stocked so Harry decides on pancakes, with a side of sausage (though there isn't really a ton of that), as it's fairly easy and fast to make. And he knows Niall loves when he makes him pancakes.

He's stacking the finished pancakes on one plate when he hears Louis' voice, "where's Harry?" from the living room.

Harry turns around just in time to watch Louis stroll into the kitchen, bare feet pitter-pattering across the floor. He pauses in the doorway, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, a lazy grin on his face. His eyes are soft and sleepy, his arms crossing over his chest. Harry's own lips pull into a matching smile. "G' morning," He greets shyly, letting his gaze turn back to the food.

"Good morning, gorgeous." Louis rasps, sending shivers down Harry's spine. He pushes off of the doorframe and walks the short distance over to Harry. He wraps his arms around Harry's waist, pulling the b oy back into his chest and burrowing his face into the crook of his neck. Harry freezes in surprised, his breath catching in his throat as he nearly drops the empty skillet in his hand. Louis' nose nudges against his jaw and Harry subconsciously tilts his head to the side, allowing him better access.

"So, you're very cuddly in the morning time then?" Harry asks after a beat, working to keep his voice normal. He mentally curses himself when even he can hear how effected he sounds.

Louis freezes then like he just realized what he's doing, letting go of Harry's hips and taking a step back to put some space between their bodies. "Sorry." He chuckles sheepishly, scratching his jaw. "A bit, yeah."

"It's fine, I like it." Green eyes go wide and he slaps a hand over his mouth, his body going rigid as his brain catches up to what just flew out of his mouth. Louis chuckles and Harry forces himself to peek over at him, the tension leaving his body at the sweet, happy smile on his face.

"Good to know, love." Louis replies, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to Harry's cheek. The featherlight touch leaves Harry's mind reeling, his cheeks flushing. Niall and Zayn saunter into the kitchen, talking quietly to themselves, heading right for the table.

"Good morning to you too, Louis." Niall calls out as he pulls his chair out, sitting down in the seat. "Since you couldn't even say that before rushing in here to get to Harry." The blond boy shakes his head, not even trying to hide his amusement. Louis laughs quietly, his eyes crinkling in the corners from the force of his smile. He clears his throat, before he returns the greeting. Harry's blush deepens and he focuses intently on rinsing out the skillet with cold water, before moving to start putting food on different plates for everyone.

Louis' thin fingers wrapping around his wrist stop him from doing so and Harry looks up at him, his breath stuttering when he sees how close his face is. "We can get our own food, love, you've already done more than enough by cooking for us all."

"Louis," Niall starts to groan, his head falling back and nearly hitting the top of the chair, but cuts himself off when Louis sends him a stern look, eyebrows raised. He pouts, but turns a pleading stare to his boyfriend when Zayn starts to stand up.

"You can get your own food, Niall." Zayn laughs, planting a kiss on his boyfriend's cheek, before he heads over to the stack of pancakes. Niall hops up and follows behind him, both of them filling their plates up with food.

Once they're done, and Harry turns the faucet off, Louis gestures for him to get his food first.

Harry takes the chair straight across from Niall, grabbing his fork, but waiting before he stuffs it in his mouth. Louis sits down in the seat beside him, instantly working on cutting off a bite. "This is so good," Niall moans, his eyes fluttering shut as he swallows his mouthful. "Harry's pancakes are always the best."

"This," Louis swallows, groaning quietly, his eyes fluttering shut. "Is so good, H." He compliments, sticking another bite of pancake in his mouth as soon as the last syllable is out. Harry grins, about to take another bite when he realizes what he forgot to get out, his hand freezing in the air. "Oh! Drinks. What do you guys want to drink?" Harry asks.

"Orange juice." Zayn and Niall say at the same time, barely stopping long enough to get the words out. Harry looks over at Louis, already beginning to lift himself out of his seat, as he waits for his request as well.

Louis sends a quick glare to the two steadily eating, but neither one of them pay him an inkling of attention. "Keep eating, love, I'll get the drinks." Louis tells him, setting his fork down on his plate. He gently guides Harry back into his seat. "What do you want to drink?" He asks, heading over to the fridge.

"Just a glass of water." Harry answers, hesitating for a second, before slowly reaching for his fork again.

Louis changes course, heading to the cabinet that contains all of the glasses, which Harry found earlier in his quest for ingredients. He grabs the pitcher of water out of the fridge, passing Harry the first glass of water once it's filled. He fills another glass with water, setting it beside his own plate for himself. He exchanges the water for the orange juice, pouring Zayn and Niall each a glass and setting it down beside him. He uses his foot to kick the door shut.

"What's this I'm walking in on?" Harry hears an unknown voice say, and his head jerks around to see the entrance of the kitchen. A tall man stands there, a man that Harry has never seen before. Light blond curls sit on top of the man's head, much more put together than Harry's sure his own are, and dark brown eyes stare amusedly at the table.

Harry takes a quick glance around the room, not at all sure who this guy is or why he's in the house, but none of his companions seem shocked by his presense. Not even Niall. Louis sits back down in his seat, turning to look at the man, one eyebrow raised. Niall and Zayn don't even look up from their plates.

"Are you guys actually eating Louis' food? Without having to rush off to hover over the toilet?" The guy says after a beat of silence, save for the scraping of forks against plates.

Louis rolls his eyes, sighing heavily as his fork drops to his plate with a loud clank that rings through the room. "How many times have I told you to knock before you enter our house?"

"Well, that depends. How many times have I entered without knocking?"

Louis leans back in his chair, one of his hands falling in his lap, the other hand landing on Harry's thigh, causing the boy to jump in surprise. "My cooking isn't that bad." He defends himself grumpily, scoffing quietly to himself.

"Yes, it is." Niall speaks up for the first time since the plate was sat in front of him, taking a big gulp from his apple juice before he sets it down next to his empty plate. "Even I won't eat it."

Harry's lips twitch up into a smile at his friend's input, desperately fighting back a laugh that's working it's way up his throat. Louis rolls his eyes at Niall and the unknown man, even at Zayn who is snickering under his breath. Louis turns to face Harry, nudging his side gently with his elbow to get his attention, the hand on his thigh lightly squeezing. "They're being mean to me. You're on my side, right?"

"I've never tried your food," Harry answers quietly, listening as the unknown man declares a loud 'you don't want to, trust me' and Niall declares 'lucky you'. Harry laughs quietly, shaking his head. He looks back over at Louis, taking in the smile on his face. "But if Niall won't eat it, odds aren't looking too good." Harry scrunches up his nose playfully, biting back the silly grin that threatens to take over his face when Louis yelps and playfully pinches his side.

"You guys are all so rude to me." Louis tries to pout, but a smile sneaks onto his face. He gazes fondly at the curly haired boy beside him, green eyes sparkling as he peers down at his lap. He shakes his head after a second, clearing his thoughts. "Harry, this is Drew. Drew, this is Harry." Louis gestures with his hands as he talks, pointing to each person as he says their name.

"It's nice to meet you," Harry tells him, giving Drew a small smile. Drew returns the greeting, grinning, nodding his head as well.

"So, what did you come here for?" Louis asks, cutting up another piece of the pancakes that lack most of their warmth now, the heat having left during the conversation.

Something in Drew's expression changes, the playfulness that had been seen completely gone now. "Need to talk to you about something."

"Let me finish eating real quick and we'll go talk." Louis replies, taking another bite.

"There's extra if you want some," Harry offers when he notices Drew hovering around near the table, looking unsure of what to do. He nods his head towards the stack of pancakes over on the counter, returning the smile that Drew sends him. "But you might want to heat them up, they've gone cold."

"They're still delicious." Niall says, grabbing two more pancakes off the top of the stack, munching on one before he's even sat back down.

Drew chuckles. "Thank you," He smiles, heading over to the food.

The room goes quiet as Drew takes a seat, digging into the food. Louis finishes first, taking his plate to the sink. Harry and Zayn finish around the same time, and Zayn grabs Harry's plate before the boy can get up. Niall goes back for thirds while Drew works on his last pancake.

"Hey, Lou?" Harry calls out quietly, crossing his ankles under the table, his hands resting in his lap. Louis' head snaps over to him, his eyebrows raising in question. "Do you mind if I use your restroom?" He asks, scratching his dull nails against the back of his neck.

"Course I don't, love." Louis replies, standing up from the chair. "I have an extra toothbrush in the bottom right drawer if you want to use it." Louis tells him, stretching his arms over his head and arching his back until a quiet pop is heard. His shirt raises with his movement and Harry finds his eyes glued to the exposed skin inches from his face. He swallows hard. The quiet sound of someone clearing their throat drags him out of his stupor and his eyes dart back up to Louis, blushing fiercely at the playful smirk on his face.

He lets his gaze drop to the ground, trying to ignore the uncomfortable heat in his cheeks. Louis takes pity on him, throwing his arm around his shoulders and pulling the boy into his side, giving him a little nudge to start moving.

The curly haired boy stumbles out of the room after Louis, crossing his arms over his chest. "You remember the way to my room?" Louis asks, pausing beneath the staircase. Harry nods, peeking up at Louis. "Alright, love. If I'm not down here when you're done, I'll be up in my office talking to Drew about whatever. But I'll be back down as soon as we're done." Louis tells him, letting his arm fall back to his side. He leans forward, pressing a quick kiss to Harry's temple. Harry gives him a small smile, before he walks up the stairs. He goes in the bedroom Louis took him to the day before, heading right for the bathroom.

He does his business, thoroughly washing his hands, before he goes on search of the extra toothbrush, finding it right where Louis told him it would be. He grabs the tube of toothpaste, wetting the bristles before squeezing some toothpaste on it, wetting it once more before scrubbing his teeth clean.

He braces himself before taking a quick peek in the mirror, cringing at the mess that is his hair. He runs his fingers through it multiple times, trying to style some resemblance of normalcy back to his curls. It looks a little better than it did when he came in, so Harry sighs, giving up and counting it as a win.

Niall's stretched out on the couch when Harry walks back into the living room, the tv turned on the game channel. He can hear Zayn in the kitchen, water streaming out of the faucet, but he doesn't hear or see Louis or Drew. So Harry walks over to Niall, lifting his legs up and sitting down, letting them fall in his lap.

"Oh, hey, Harry! Guess what I found in one of the cabinets," Niall says, taking his attention off of the tv in order to twist around and meet Harry's eyes. "Cake mix!" He yells excitedly, throwing his hands up. A huge smile is on his face.

Harry chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. "Maybe later, Ni."

-

It's about half an hour before Louis and Drew come down the stairs. By that time the other three boys have migrated around on the couch. Harry curled up on his side on one end of the couch, and Niall halfway laying across Zayn on the other end. Their feet bump into one another, but neither is that bothered by it. All of their attention is on Family Feud, but it shifts to Drew and Louis when they march down the stairs.

Louis' eyes land on Harry as he steps off the last step and he doesn't even bother looking at anyone else, he heads straight for where he's at, climbing on the couch and curling up behind him, his face instantly pressing into the crook of Harry's neck.

Harry shifts without even thinking about it, tilting his head back so his throat is further exposed. His hand reaches back, tangling in Louis' hair, and he lightly scratches his scalp.

"What's wrong?" Harry vaguely hears Zayn ask, but all he can focus on is Louis. Louis' chest rises as he sucks in a deep breath, the hand resting on Harry's hip squeezing gently.

The two stay like that for who knows how long, as Louis slowly calms himself down. "Sorry." He mutters against Harry's jaw, pressing a quick kiss to the skin, before he pulls back.

Harry turns his head as much as possible, nudging his nose against Louis' jaw. "It's okay, are you okay?"

Louis smiles, cupping Harry's jaw, rubbing his thumb against his cheek. "I'm okay." He presses a kiss to Harry's nose, before he nudges him to get comfortable again. Harry shifts back around, wincing at the ache in his neck from the awkward angle he held it in. 

Drew leaves after a little while, after informing them that he wanted to get back to his boyfriend. Niall and Harry stay for a little while longer, various game shows playing, before Louis takes them both home. Harry's house is on the way to Niall's, so he gets dropped off first. With a kiss on the cheek from Louis and a 'see you in class' from Niall, he jogs up his driveway, pushing open the door. 

"Hey, darling." Anne greets him as he's heading for the stairs, causing him to pause on the bottom step. He turns around, giving her a small smile, as he rests his hand on the railing. "Did you have fun?" 

Harry shrugs, running his free hand through his hair. "Yeah, it was alright. Parties still aren't my thing. I mostly just hung out with Louis." He admits, shifting his weight, resting most of it against the banister. 

A mischievous smirk appears on her face, and Harry lets out a loud groan at the sight of it, already knowing where this conversation is headed. "You and Louis, huh? What do you think about him?" She asks him, wagging her eyebrows,  not even trying to be subtle. 

Harry rolls his eyes fondly, shaking his head. "Not now, mum." He calls out, turning around and heading up the stairs. Behind him he hears her declare that they'll take about it later, which he definitely doesn't plan on doing. 

He stays in his room until it's dinner time, and as soon as he's finished eating he escapes back up the stairs, shutting his door and locking it. Harry flops down on his bed, eyeing Louis' clothes that he's still wearing. He debates for a minute, trying to decide if he should change. With a sigh he gets a pair of his own sweatpants and a random t-shirt, heading into the bathroom to change. 

As he's climbing back into bed, he notices movement out of the corner of his eye. He jerks around to look out the window, seeing the leaves on the bushes shaking. Harry squints, trying to make out what it is, when the wolf steps through. His shoulders instantly relax and a smile takes over his face. He's heading down the stairs and sneaking out the back door before he even realizes it. 

The wolf yips when it sees him, standing up on it's haunches as he walks near. "Hey, buddy." Harry says, chuckling as he feels the wolf's paws rest against his stomach, the weight of the wolf nearly making him stumble.  He lightly scratches behind it's ear,  before nudging it until it falls back on all fours. Harry moves his hand long enough to take a seat on the ground, resting his back against the rough bark of the tree. He can feel it digging into his back through the thin fabric of his shirt, on the verge of being painful, but he's able to ignore it as the wolf curls up beside him, laying it's giant head on his lap. 

"How are you doing, buddy?" Harry asks, resuming his light scratching. The wolf whines, pressing his head against Harry's stomach. Harry laughs quietly, resting his head back against the tree. "I'm only gonna be out here a minute, boy, I'm sleepy." 

He stays there, petting the wolf for a little while longer before he stands up with a sigh. The wolf follows his movements, licking his hand. Harry chuckles, fighting the urge to wipe the slobber off on his pants as he turns to head back into his house.  The wolf hangs back by the bushes, and Harry gives it a wave before the door shuts behind him. 

He heads upstairs to his room, ducking under his covers and turning the lamp off. He's asleep not too long after. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter hjffhk, I'm sorry, I hope it's not too terrible x   
> twitter. clumsyxhes


	10. Chapter 10

Harry heaves a deep sigh, plopping down in his seat, slumping forward so he can rest his forehead against the cool wood of the desk. Around him, everyone is getting ready for the class to start; some talking with their friends, some in their desks digging their notebooks out of their bags, while some are meandering around the room. The teacher's desk at the front of the room is still vacant, Coach Evans not yet in the room.

"Do you mind if I sit here?"

Harry's eyebrows furrow. He debates lifting his head to find out who's speaking, because they sound pretty close to him, but he decides against it, not having the energy to do so. Surely whoever it is speaking is talking to someone else.

"Harry?"

Or maybe they were talking to him, he sighs. Harry slowly lifts his head up, his eyebrows furrowing together, only to find Liam standing beside his desk, a nervous frown twisted on his lips. "Sorry. Um. It just seems like every other seat is taken. Do you mind if I sit here?" He continues before Harry has a chance to say anything. "You know what, I can just wait and ask the teacher where-"

"It's okay," Harry interrupts Liam's rambling, smiling reassuringly as he watches Liam's cheeks darken. "No one sits there, have at it, mate."

Liam relaxes, letting out his own chuckle as he tosses his backpack down beside the chair, sitting down. Harry looks over at the teacher's desk, seeing it still to be lacking their teacher. "I forgot you had to get your schedule changed." Harry comments, laughing quietly, as he leans back in his seat and crosses his arms over his chest, propping his feet onthe desk in front of him.

Liam laughs as well, rolling his eyes jokingly as he gets his notebook out of his bag. "You and me both, lad. Until this morning, that is, when I went to my original first class and promptly got kicked out."

Harry shakes his head in amusement, his lips turning up, but before he can respond, their teacher enters the classroom, apologizing for being late.

Everyone scampers to their desks, notebooks are pulled out and laid across desks, as the lesson begins.

-

A few days later Harry is straightening out his shirt when his phone rings. Harry taps the accept button on the screen, absentmindedly running his fingers through his curls as he holds the phone against his ear. "What's up, Ni?" He asks in lieu of greeting, scratching his jaw.

"How mad would you be if I said I wasn't coming to class today?" Niall croaks down the phone line, the muffled sound of him coughing following.

"You're sick?" Harry asks, his brows knitting together in concern. He pinches his lower lip between his index finger and his thumb, backing away from his floor length mirror to take a seat on the edge of his bed. "Would you like me to bring you some soup or anything?"

"No, that's alright." Niall answers, sniffling. "Mom made me some before she left for work this morning, and I think Zayn's gonna come over. Thank you though." He says, before tacking on, "Said she thinks it's probably just a 24 hour cold or something. Sorry I'm leaving you alone today though."

"Don't worry about that, Niall. Just get to feeling better, yeah? Call me or text me if you need anything." Harry replies, frowning as he listens to Niall cough again, before hoarsely thanking him again.

Harry sighs, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. He stands from the bed, heading back to the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

-

School drags on, every single class seeming to last hours on end. He dropped his books int he hallway on his rush to his next class, accidentally spilled some soup on his light grey long sleeve during lunch, got called on to answer a question that he stuttered his way through because he has gotten lost in a daydream, and to make it even worse, as the school day draws closer to an end, the clouds in the sky get darker.

A loud clap of thunder bellows throughout the classroom right as the bell rings, causing Harry to jump and nearly drop his books again. He heaves a loud sigh, takng a glance out of the window to see the rain pouring down.

He curses under his breath, quickly bringing his phone out of his pocket as he walks down the hallway, trying not to bump into anybody. He sends off a quick text to his mother to see if there's any way she could come pick him up.

Harry sighs again, running his fingers through his hair and lightly tugging on the tousled strands. He follows the crowd to the front doors, stepping off to the side underneath the awning of the sidewalk so he doesn't block anyone from leaving nor does he get soaked.

He peers out across the parking lot, squinting to see through the harsh downpour. A big gust of wind hits him, causing a shiver to run through his body.

His phone beeps only a minute later and he turns his attention to it, reading the message his mother sent.

**I'm sorry, hun. Boss isn't wanting to let me off. Is there any way one of your friends could take you home? Or could you wait about an hour?**

Harry groans quietly, looking back out at the heavy rain pounding on the concrete. The trinkle of students still hanging around the parking lot is slowly dwindling down, nobody wanting to get soaked just to have a quick word with their friends. Harry looks up towards the sky, wincing at the sight of the dark clouds hovering above the school. He chews on his lip, weighing his options; does he just hang out where he's at for an hour or does he attempt to run for his house?

His phone beeps again, interrupting his internal debate. Harry looks down, hoping to see another message from his mother telling him she can come on and get him, but instead Louis' name flashes across the screen.

_hey , H . you three aren't walking home in this weather , are you ? x_

**_ni and z didn't come to school today. but no, i'm not walking home in it. my mum's gonna pick me up when she gets off work_ **

_how long til she gets off work ?_

**_she said about an hour_ **

_one second let me get my shoes on. i'll be there in about 10 or so minutes_

_**it's okay Lou i don't mind waiting** _

_nonsense love_

Harry's fingers hover over the keyboard, but before he can type anything out, another message from Louis comes through.

_i'm heading out now x_

Harry sighs as he reads the words, feeling guilty that Louis' leaving the warmth of his house to get out in this weather and take him home, but he can't help the small smile that tugs at the corners of his mouth at how thoughtful and sweet the man is. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches sight of a bench sheltered from the rain, so he heads over to it and takes a seat, letting his bag fall beside him on the wood. He sends a quick text to his mother, informing her that Louis said he'll take him home.

He studiously ignores the text he receives back from his mother, **oooh! Have fun with Louis, darling.**

Not too much later a sleek black car pulls up in front of him. The passenger window rolls down enough for Harry to see that it's Louis, as Louis gestures for the boy to hurry inside the heated car.

Harry tosses his backpack between the seats, watching it fall on the floorboard of the backseat. Shivers rack through his body as he settles in his seat, the heat blasting from the vents warm against his cool skin. He wraps his arms around his torso, settling back in the seat.

"Hello, darling." Louis greets him, flashing him a grin, as he eases the car forward, to the exit of the parking lot. "How was your day?"

"Long," Harry answers, letting out a sigh. He reaches up to move his damp curls free from where they've stuck to his forehead, scrunching his nose and glaring up at one particular curl that falls right back down. "Sorry, I'm getting the inside of your car a bit wet." He apologizes, wrapping his arms around himself.

Louis waves his concerns off, glancing over at his huddled figure as he drives, frowning when he sees how thin the long sleeve covering his arms is.

"Where's your jacket, love?" 

"Didn't wear one this morning," Harry answers, sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. "Didn't know the weather was supposed to do this."

Louis comes to a stop at a red light, deftly unbuckling his seatbelt, then tugging the sleeves of his hoodie off. He tosses the clothing at Harry, hurrying to fix his t-shirt where it's twisted around his body, before he puts his seatbelt back on, right as the light changes to green.

Harry clutches the hoodie in his hands, opening his mouth to refute the item, but stops himself short when Louis narrows his eyes. "Thank you, Lou." He says instead, giving the man a grateful smile, before tugging the hoodie over his head.

"Course, love." Louis' lips turn up in a smile. "Okay, love, so I was thinking, so you're not alone in this weather, do you want to come hang out at my house until your mum gets off work?"

"Yeah, sure." Harry nods eagerly, more than willing to spend more time with the blue eyed man, though he is a bit nervous about embarrassing himself in front of him. He lets his hands rest in his lap, tugging the sleeves down past his fingertips. "That would be great."

The rain continues pouring down all around them, lightning brightening up the sky every now and then, the occasional sound of thunder booming in their ears. Harry leans his head against the window, watching the raindrops race down the glass.

By the time they pull into Louis' driveway, the rain has slackened considerably, so they take their chance and run for the door, falling inside when Louis gets it open. Harry eyes Zayn's car in the driveway curiously, before the door is shut. Damp curls stick to his forehead and he brushes them off, bundling the hoodie against his body as he soaks in the warm air wafting through the house.

"Would you like to go watch some TV in the living room?" Louis calls out, already walking towards the living room. The fabric of his light blue t-shirt is darkened by the spots of rain that hit him, the sleeves pulled tight against his biceps. Harry belatedly nods his head, stumbling after him.

He pulls his phone out of his pocket, pulling up his messages with Niall.

**_hey, is Zee at your house ?_ **

Harry sits down on the other end of the couch, setting his phone down beside him on the cushion. Louis grabs the remote to turn the TV on, and Harry lifts his backpack off of the floor. "Is it okay with you if I go ahead and finish the homework that I have?"

Louis makes a face at the mention of homework, shuddering dramatically for effect. He lets out a chuckle, "Yeah, sure, love, go for it. I'll turn the TV down so the noise doesn't bother you."

Harry gives him a smile in thanks, digging his book out of his bag so he can get started. His phone lights up right as he opens the book to the correct page.

_yea, why ??_

**_just curious bc his car is at Lou's, making sure he's okay !_ **

_he just walked here this morning .... how'd u kno his car is at lou's ?_

**_Lou picked me up from school so I wouldn't have to walk home in the rain_ **

_tht doesn't explain why u're at his house !_

**_he said i could come to his so i wouldn't have to be alone in this weather until mum gets off work_ **

_mhm. have fun , be safe ! ;)_

Harry rolls his eyes at the last part of the message, grinning as a faint blush heats his cheeks, but he sets his phone off to the side and gets to work, forcing himself to concentrate on the words printed across the pages of the book.

After about half an hour Harry is startled by a tap on his shoulder. He turns around, his eyes going wide when he sees how close Louis' face is to his, close enough he could count every single eyelash that frames his cerulean eyes, if he desired to. "I think I'm gonna go make me a cup of hot cocoa, do you want one?"

Harry blinks, his breath catching in his throat. He nods his head shakily once he realizes Louis asked him a question. He licks his lips, his mouth suddenly feeling dry. Louis' gaze flickers to his mouth, before lifting back to meet green eyes. He nods his head after a beat, giving Harry a small smile, before he stands up from the couch and pads across the floor into the kitchen.

Harry settles back against the couch, trying to calm his racing heartbeat. Subconsciously, he buries further into the hoodie that still cloaks his body. To distract himself, he packs his things back into his backpack, setting it down on the floor. He lifts his feet up, crossing them beneath him. He stretches his arms above his head, wincing when his back pops. Louis brings back two mugs a few minutes later, filled to the brim with warm chocolate and marshmallows. He carefully passes one to Harry before he sets the other on the coffee table, settling back down on the couch, much closer than he was. When he pulls his feet up on the couch, they press against Harry's knee.

Outside the weather has picked back up, Harry notices, listening to the sound of the rain hitting the roof as he takes a sip from his cocoa. He holds the mug carefully in one hang, resting it on his thigh, and digs his phone out of his pocket with the other, hitting the home button. A message from his mother is on the screen.

"Mum just texted," Harry announces, looking up from his phone and over to Louis. Louis turns his head to face him, his eyes peering at Harry from over the top of his mug. "She said she hasn't been able to get off of work yet." A second message lights up the screen and Harry reads it, a blush painting his cheeks instantly. "And um, she uh, she asked if there's any way I could stay the night at your house, so no one would have to get back out in this weather today." Harry mumbles, keeping his eyes on the screen of his phone, the words staring back up at him.

The weight and warmth of Louis' hand falls on Harry's shoulder, causing him to look up. Louis' leaned into him, his mug abandoned on the table, and Louis' squeezing his shoulder gently. "Yeah, of course you can stay the night, Hazza. I have some clothes you can sleep in." A warm smile appears on Louis' face, his head tilting to the side. A playful twinkle sparks in his eyes as he says, "As there's not really a whole lot to do in this weather though, my options of entertaining you are quite limited. So," He drags the words out, taking a quick sip from his cocoa before he sets it back down on the table. "Friends reruns, a movie, or a board game?"

A smile tugs on the corners of Harry's mouth. "Friends reruns sound good, though the board game does sound kind of tempting." Harry answers, shifting further back on the couch.

Louis chuckles. "We'll have to make a night of board games then, soon."

"Deal."

Louis reaches for the remote, leaving it on the channel it's at, but he turns the volume up. The remote is set back on the table. But, instead of leaning back again, Louis lays down on his side, stretching his feet out across the couch, his head resting on Harry's thigh. Harry's lips part in momentary shock as he stares down at him, his eyes marginally wider than normal. Louis peeks up at him out of the corner of his eye, giving him a big grin, before turning his head sideways so he can see the TV. Harry grins, shaking his head, when thin fingers wrap around his wrist and tug his hand to Louis' hair.

Harry experimentally buries his fingers in silky strands of hair, lightly scratching his dull nails against his scalp. Louis releases his grip on his hand, letting out a small sigh of contentment as his hands drop to the cushion.

As the sky starts darkening, Harry's stomach starts rumbling. Harry laughs quietly, his cheeks tinting pink. He pushes his hair out of his eyes, shrugging it off, but Louis' eyebrows knit together, a pout settling on his mouth as he turns so he's on his back, staring up at him. "I haven't fed you yet, have I?"

"Honestly, I didn't even realize I was hungry." Harry tells him, attempting to shrug it off, but allows Louis to pull him up from the couch.

"What would you like to eat?" Louis questions, guiding him into the kitchen with a hand on his back.

"Um," Harry racks his brain, trying to remember the food that he saw when he cooked breakfast. "A sandwich is fine, honestly."

"Okay." Louis nods once. "I'll go ahead and make meself one as well."

"What kind of sandwich do you want?" Louis asks, moving around the kitchen to grab the bread and the paper plates, laying them across the counter.

Harry shrugs, leaning forward against the counter, resting his hands on top of it. "I'll just take a peanut butter one." He answers.

Louis heads to the cabinet the peanut butter is stored in, letting out a little 'aha' when he pulls down the jar, having to stand on his toes to reach it. "Just peanut butter? You don't want any jelly?" Louis asks, his nose scrunching up. He sets the peanut butter next to the other ingredients. Then he heads to the fridge to get the jelly, using his hip to push the door shut.

Harry shakes his head, grinning. "Just peanut butter." He echoes.

Louis shrugs. "Alright, then. Can you get me a spoon out of that drawer?"

A few minutes later both of the boys settle back on the couch, sandwiches in their hands, plates on tier laps to catch any crumbs.

Time flies by. The rain comes and goes. After they'd finished their sandwiches, Louis picked up on doing hilarious commentary of the show that had Harry bursting with giggles. The two had slowly drifted together until their sides were lined up, and Harry found his head resting against Louis' shoulder, his feet pulled up on the couch behind him, Louis' arm wrapped around his waist. In between the commentary, idle chit chat flowed between the two. Soon Louis' poking him in the side, for the third time that night. "Yes, Lou?" Harry asks, amused, as he turns his attention over to him.

"It's starting to get a bit late, love." Louis tells him, his hand gently rubbing the spot he poked. "We should probably be getting you to bed soon, as, unfortunately, you do have school tomorrow."

Harry groans quietly at the reminder, but he sits up, instantly feeling cold. "Let's go get you some clothes to change into, and you can take my bed for the night."

Harry freezes in his attempt of pushing off the couch, shaking his head instantly. "I'm not kicking you out of your own bed." Harry argues, shaking his head. He crosses his arms over his chest for good measure. "I'll just take the couch."

"Harry," Louis' mouth twists in a disapproving frown. "You're not sleeping on the couch."

"And I'm not taking your bed from you either."

Louis sighs, sinking back in the couch. He shakes his head, sighing a sound that's a mixture of annoyance and amusement. "Stubborn."

Harry grins.

Louis reaches out, runs his fingers through Harry's curls, chewing on his lip as he tries to think of a solution. His eyes light up when he thinks of something, but then he frowns, unsure of how Harry will take the suggestion.

"How about you sleep in my bed-"

"I'm not taking your-"

"With me." Louis finishes.

Harry gnaws on his lip, hesitating. Then, "Are you okay with that?"

Louis chuckles, rolling his eyes fondly. "I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't, darling."

"Yes, please."

"Come on," Louis stands from the couch, holding his hands out for Harry to take, pulling him from the couch. He wraps his arm around Harry's shoulder, guiding him towards the stairs.

They walk into Louis' room and Louis releases Harry to go grab a pair of sweat pants and a shirt for him to change into. "You can change first." He tells Harry, gesturing towards the bathroom.

When Harry gets back, Louis waits for him to crawl under the covers, before he says, "I'm gonna go get changed real quick too, okay? I'll be right back."

Harry bundles under the covers, clutching the material against his car as he watches Louis disappear into the bathroom. He lets his eyes drift over to the window as he waits for Louis to come back, listening to the rain hitting the top of the house, watching it slide down the glass. Off in the distance Harry sees a bolt of lightning light up the sky, a muffled crack following it. He gets lost in his thoughts, doesn't realize Louis' out of the bathroom until the light flips out. His stomach turns, thinking that the power went out, but then he feels the bed shift, realizes Louis' climbing under the covers behind him.

Silence fills the room as both try to fall asleep. Harry shuts his eyes, burrows further into his pillow.

He lays there for what feels like hours, but sleep doesn't come to him. He tries not to move a lot, not wanting to disturb Louis, but he isn't comfortable. Harry shifts very carefully to lay on his back.

"You're still awake?" Louis speaks, causing Harry to jump, his eyes flying open and over to Louis. He rolls his eyes when he sees the lopsided smirk that appears on Louis' face.

Harry opens his mouth to retort something, hopefully witty, when a loud crack fills the room unexpectedly. Harry jumps, a squeak ripping from his throat before he even comprehends it.

A hand grips his arm, gently squeezing it. He feels Louis slide closer to him, and he turns over to face him. "You okay, darling?" Louis whispers, brushing his thumb across Harry's cheek. His eyes are glinting with concern, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Yeah, 'm good. Just surprised me," Harry responds, equally as quiet. He scoots even closer to Louis without realizing it, his chest pressed to Louis'.

Louis nods, moving his hand from Harry's face to wrap his arm around Harry's waist. "Not being able to fall asleep?" He asks after a minute, when Harry doesn't move away or close his eyes.

Harry shakes his head, his teeth sinking in bottom lip. It's dark, but Harry can see when Louis' gaze drops to his mouth. His mind goes blank and before he even realizes what he's doing he's leaning forward and pressing his mouth to Louis'.

Louis freezes and Harry instantly pulls back, his eyes widening in horror. He quickly starts to squeak out, "I'm so-"

Louis leans forward, capturing his mouth in a kiss, effectively cutting his apology off. Harry relaxes into the kiss, laying his palm against Louis' cheek as his mouth moves in sync with Louis'.

Louis pulls back, causing Harry's eyes to fly open. Louis rests his forehead against Harry's, sucking in a deep gulp of air as blue stares into green. "Let me take you out, please." Louis whispers, his voice taking on an edge of pleading. He cups Harry's cheek in his hand, his thumb rubbing across his jawline. Harry's eyelids flutter shut, as his brain tries to comprehend what Louis said.

"Like, on a date?" He asks, blinking his eyes open, only to see Louis staring at him fondly, soft smile on his mouth. A mouth Harry just touched with his own,- woah.

"Definitely like on a date." Louis confirms, leaning forward to brush his lips against Harry's own in a short peck.

"Definitely," Harry echoes, leaning forward to try and get another kiss, but Louis stops him, chuckling.

"It's late, love, and you still, very unfortunately, have school tomorrow. Try and get some rest, yeah? More time for kisses tomorrow." Louis reasons, laughing when Harry, who had grown pouty at the mention of school, perks back up at his promise.

"And time to talk about our date?"

"And time to talk about our date."

 


End file.
